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Get Hands-On at the Writer's Workshop

Post-Conference Workshop: Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

Writer’s Workshop:
Developing Effective Outreach and Communication Materials for the Medicaid Population using a Health Literacy Lens

Many American adults have difficulty understanding and acting upon health information. A great deal of health information, from insurance forms to advertising, contains complex text. This workshop focuses on building skills to assist you in reaching your clients who may have limited literacy skills.
Participants should bring an educational brochure to assess and revise during the workshop.

  • Define health literacy
  • Describe the prevalence of health literacy
  • Discuss strategies for improved communication of health information.
  • Identify the five steps in selecting effective teaching tools for your low literate clients.
  • Identify at least five components that make written educational material “easy-to-read.”
  • Apply strategies for clear health communication.
  • Identify three resources to reduce the effects of low health literacy skills.

Kara L . Jacobson, MPH, CHES, Senior Research Associate Faculty, Emory Center on Health Outcomes and Quality, Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University

About the Workshop Leader:
Ms. Jacobson’s research focuses on health literacy interventions and chronic disease self-management programs. She teaches a graduate level Health Literacy course at Emory, and she has developed training programs for health care providers to better communicate with their patients.

TIME FRAMETEACHING METHODSOBJECTIVES
At the end of this educational activity,
participants will be able to:		CONTENT (Topics)
9:00-9:10
10 minutes		Lecture1. Define health literacyState the definition of health literacy used in the Healthy People 2010 report
9:10-9:20
10 minutes		Lecture2. Describe the prevalence of health literacyState the purpose of NALS/NAAL
Approximate the prevalence of low health literacy.
9:20-10:00
40 minutes		Interactive lecture Role play activity3. Discuss strategies for improved communication of health information.

Define and discuss health literacy principles, specifically identifying strategies for better communication of health information

  • Verbal (use of teach back)
  • Print communications (page layout, formatting, font size and type, use of graphics)
10:00-10:30
30 minutes		Interactive lecture4. Identify the five steps in selecting effective teaching tools for your low literate clients.
  • Developing goals and objectives
  • Identifying target audience
  • Identifying resources
  • Identifying distribution points
  • Conducting formative evaluation with target audience.
10:30-11:00 Break
11:00-12:00
1:00-1:30
90 minutes		Interactive lecture
Case Study		5. Identify at least five components that make written educational material “easy-to-read.”
  • Describe how the eye reads a page
  • Understanding page layout and use of white space
  • Readability formulas
  • Effective use of graphics
12:00-1:00 Lunch
1:30 –2:30
60 minutes		Breakout session in small groups.
Includes opportunity to focus specifically on institutions’ own education materials		6. Apply strategies for clear health communication
  • Using educational materials used in their organization, participants will review and critique materials noting what components are easy-to-read, what components are not easy-to-read, and participants will be asked to modify materials according to clear health communication principles
2:30-2:45
10 minutes		Handouts of resources7. Identify three resources to reduce the effects of low health literacy skills.National Library of Medicine
Key literature: IOM report, AHRQ report, AMA textbook
Doak’s