Date of Presentation
5-5-2022 12:00 AM
College
School of Osteopathic Medicine
Poster Abstract
More than 1/3 of people nationwide (80+ million) have limited health literacy, which contributes to poor health outcomes and lifestyle choices. Health literacy is defined as the understanding and application of words, numbers & documents (i.e., medication labels, medical forms). The Rowan Community Health Center (RCHC), located in Lindenwold NJ, is a student-run clinic that wanted to assess the health literacy of our patients in order to further provide better care. RCHC provides cost-free primary care services regardless of income, insurance, or legal status. To assess health literacy, RCHC used the New Vital Signs (NVS) literacy assessment tool to investigate if there is a difference in health literacy between non-insured patients at RCHC and insured patients a Rowan Family Medicine (FM) office in Hammonton, NJ. The NVS tool, which was a score ranging from 0 to 6, was administered to 45 participants. Data was stored in Qualtrics and analyzed in SPSS. Data showed a significantly higher prevalence of limited literacy (NVS score ≤3) compared to adequate literacy (score ≤4) among male patients (p=0.046) and patients below the poverty line (p=0.036). This showed that both gender and socioeconomic factors correlate with health literacy in our patient populations at RCHC and Family Medicine office. Health literacy extends universally and should not be neglected when interacting with patients. RCHC plans to use this data to mend the health literacy gap by creating a future literacy course as a potential intervention for basic health literacy.
Keywords
Health Literacy, Patient Care, Socioeconomic Factors, Patient Education, New Jersey, Health Care Quality Assessment, Primary Care, Student Run Clinic
Disciplines
Community Health | Community Health and Preventive Medicine | Health and Medical Administration | Health Services Administration | Health Services Research | Medical Education | Medicine and Health Sciences | Public Health | Public Health Education and Promotion | Quality Improvement
Document Type
Poster
Included in
Community Health Commons, Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons, Health Services Administration Commons, Health Services Research Commons, Medical Education Commons, Public Health Education and Promotion Commons, Quality Improvement Commons
Income and Its Effects On Health Literacy: A Study Between a Student-Run Free Clinic and a Family Medicine Office
More than 1/3 of people nationwide (80+ million) have limited health literacy, which contributes to poor health outcomes and lifestyle choices. Health literacy is defined as the understanding and application of words, numbers & documents (i.e., medication labels, medical forms). The Rowan Community Health Center (RCHC), located in Lindenwold NJ, is a student-run clinic that wanted to assess the health literacy of our patients in order to further provide better care. RCHC provides cost-free primary care services regardless of income, insurance, or legal status. To assess health literacy, RCHC used the New Vital Signs (NVS) literacy assessment tool to investigate if there is a difference in health literacy between non-insured patients at RCHC and insured patients a Rowan Family Medicine (FM) office in Hammonton, NJ. The NVS tool, which was a score ranging from 0 to 6, was administered to 45 participants. Data was stored in Qualtrics and analyzed in SPSS. Data showed a significantly higher prevalence of limited literacy (NVS score ≤3) compared to adequate literacy (score ≤4) among male patients (p=0.046) and patients below the poverty line (p=0.036). This showed that both gender and socioeconomic factors correlate with health literacy in our patient populations at RCHC and Family Medicine office. Health literacy extends universally and should not be neglected when interacting with patients. RCHC plans to use this data to mend the health literacy gap by creating a future literacy course as a potential intervention for basic health literacy.