Charleen McNeill|Lisa Washburn|Kristie Hadden|Zola K. Moon
Evaluating the Effectiveness of the How to Talk to Your Doctor HANDbook Program
background millions americans low health literacy potentially leading number issues including medication errors hospital admissions unnecessary emergency department visits skipped screenings shots misinterpretation treatment plans people low health literacy less knowledge illness management less ability share decisionmaking poorer selfreported health status addressing health literacy necessary improve health care quality reduce costs reduce disparities objective talk doctor htttyd handbook program addresses health literacy among rural participants low incomes focus improving health communication among populations medically vulnerable using handbook tool methods participants recruited 55 rural counties county extension agents cea participate 1hour htttyd session pre posttest surveys completed subset sample completed 3month followup survey key results 548 participants fully completed survey wilcoxon signedrank test performed 484 participants completed pre posttest statistically significant median increase overall confidence among participants pre 1599 posttest 1776 z 13454 p 000 noted subset 166 participants also completed 3month followup survey significant increase health literacy participation htttyd handbook program pretest 3month followup noted effect sizes ranged moderate large conclusion htttyd handbook program meets recommendations successful health literacy programs significant positive outcomes demonstrate program effectiveness htttyd handbook program delivery rural communities ceas demonstrates access understudied often difficulttoreach populations hlrp health literacy research practice 201932e103e109 plain language summary talk doctor handbook program delivered county extension agents rural communities showed capacity access understudied often difficulttoreach populations significant sustained improvement health literacy noted among program participants demonstrated program effectiveness among low health literacy