Episode 81: Health Literacy: How clinicians can preserve their roles as educators with Brittany Ferri, OTR/L, CCTP, CPRP, ARSP
Brittany Ferri joins Leigh Ann on the podcast this week to take an in depth look at our role as health literacy advocates in the rehab field. Brittany is the first Occupational Therapist on the podcast and I hope to have many more!
No matter what concerns a client presents with, each and every therapist must function as an educator during treatment. As such, having a clear understanding of health literacy is one of the cornerstones of being a good clinician-educator. Health literacy will not only help maximize patient outcomes, but also improve the patient experience by increasing independence and personal autonomy.
topics covered:
The 4 levels of health literacy
How to measure health literacy
from a public health perspective
from a rehab professional’s perspective
outcomes that result from poor health literacy
Approaches that assist with health education
Teach-back technique & “Ask three”
Use of technology/telehealth in health literacy
how technology can be a barrier
how technology can increase client’s growth & understanding of health factors.
Resources mentioned in the episode:
Brittany’s website: Simplicity of Health
Brittany wrote a children’s book! “Why is there a person in my computer? A child's guide to teletherapy”
tools to measure health literacy levels:
Tools to measure readability:
Microsoft Word also has a readability tool that scans your document as you type
additional resources:
Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit
CDC Health Literacy Data (by state)
National Prevention Information Network
U.S. National Library of Medicine - Medline Plus
Brittany’s References:
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2015). Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit, 2nd Edition. Retrieved from https://www.ahrq.gov/sites/default/files/wysiwyg/professionals/quality-patient-safety/quality-resources/tools/literacy-toolkit/healthlittoolkit2.pdf
Brown, F.K. (2016). Integrating health literacy into occupational therapy. Retrieved from https://twu-ir.tdl.org/bitstream/handle/11274/8752/2016FKayBrown.pdf?sequence=8&isAllowed=y
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). Understanding health literacy. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/healthliteracy/learn/Understanding.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2009). What we know about health literacy. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/healthcommunication/pdf/audience/healthliteracy.pdf
Health Literacy Centre Europe. (2015). Understanding health literacy. Retrieved from http://healthliteracycentre.eu/understanding-health-literacy/
Health Literacy Iowa. (2019). Teach-back Training Toolkit. Retrieved from http://www.teachbacktraining.org/home
Kutner, M., Greenberg, E., Jin, Y., and Paulsen, C. (2006). The health literacy of America’s adults: Results from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy. U.S. Department of Education & National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2006/2006483.pdf
Laxman, K., Krishnan, S.B., & Dhillon, J.S. (2015). Barriers to adoption of consumer health informatics applications for health self management. Health Science Journal, 9(5:7), 1-7.
National Center for Education Statistics. (2017). Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/piaac/
Rask, M., Uusiautti, S., & Maatta, K. (2013). The Fourth Level of Health Literacy. International Quarterly of Community Health Education, 34(1), 51-71. https://doi.org/10.2190/IQ.34.1.e
Smith, D. L., & Gutman, S. A. (2011). Health literacy in occupational therapy practice and research. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 65(4), 367-369. doi: 10.5014/ajot.2011.002139
World Health Organization. (2016). From innovation to implementation. Retrieved from http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/302331/From-Innovation-to-Implementation-eHealth-Report-EU.pdf
Thank you, Brittany for these great resources!
Brittany Ferri is an occupational therapist, clinical trauma practitioner, and certified psychiatric rehabilitation provider. Though much of her clinical experience is in mental health, she also has experience developing policy, procedure, and programs for clinical facilities and telehealth treatment platforms. This led her to discover a passion for effective health literacy as a means for disease prevention and wellness promotion. She has also developed expertise as a textbook author and has published a textbook entitled “Effective Occupational Therapy Documentation” and (most recently) a children’s book called “Why is there a person in my computer?” that educates kids on what teletherapy is and how it can help them. Brittany also serves as an adjunct professor at Nazareth College and has guest lectured at multiple universities on the topics of documentation, mental health, and health literacy.
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