Submitted by Kay Crampton
Gundersen Lutheran Health Resource Libraries, La Crosse, WI
Low health literacy cuts across education and income levels. Patients don't always understand the information they receive from their health care providers, and health care providers don't always realize that their instructions are misunderstood or misinterpreted by their patients. That's why the Great Rivers Partners for Health-e People project was formed in 2007 in La Crosse, Wis., to raise awareness about health literacy in the tri-state region of southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota and northeastern Iowa.
The project is a collaboration of three La Crosse organizations: Gundersen Lutheran Health System, Franciscan Skemp/Mayo Health System and the La Crosse Area Community Literacy Coalition. Great Rivers Partners for Health-e People is a health literacy and awareness education project for both patients and providers.
The regional education and information pilot project is funded by a $35,000 subcontract from the National Library of Medicine (NLM) with additional funding by Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation, Franciscan Skemp Foundation and Southwest Wisconsin Area Health Education Center (SWAHEC). The pilot, which began in March 2008 and will run through August 2009, will target both patients and health care providers. Components of the project include:
- A brief online course for health care professionals
- A brief online program for patients and families. Both online programs are free and take about 15 minutes each. They are available at the La Crosse Area Literacy Coalition website.
- Piloting the use of portable DVD players, iPods and Zunes for patient education in the health care setting
- Presentations for librarians, public health personnel, civic and service groups
- Free DVDs of the consumer online presentation are available for those who do not have access to the Internet or are otherwise interested in having the information.
- What is my main problem?
- What do I need to do?
- Why is it important for me to do this?
Health literacy facts:
- Up to 80 percent of medical information provided by healthcare practitioners is forgotten immediately by patients. Furthermore, almost half of the information that is remembered is incorrect.
- Approximately 20 percent of American adults read at or below the fifth grade level. However, most health information materials are written at the tenth grade level or above.
- Nearly half of all American adults have difficulty understanding and acting upon health information. As a result, they get less preventive health care and are more likely to use expensive emergency services.
- Medication errors, excess hospitalizations, longer hospital stays, more use of emergency departments and a generally higher level of illness-all attributable to limited health literacy-add billions in excess cost to an already strained U.S. health care system.
- For more information, please visit the Partnership for Clear Health Communication's website.
If you would like more information about the Great Rivers Partnership for Health-e People project, please contact Kaye Crampton at (608) 775-1665 or email her.
This project has been funded by the National Library of Medicine under Contract No. NO1-LM-6-3503 with the University of Illinois at Chicago, Library of the Health Sciences. Additional funds were provided by Southwest Wisconsin Area Health Education Center, Franciscan Skemp Foundation, Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation, Inc., and Gundersen Lutheran Health System.