the basics - World Health Communication Associates

3.2 MEASURING THE DEMAND AND COMPLEXITY SIDE—HEALTHLITERACY INTERVENTIONSSome researchers have begun developing tools to evaluate the health literacyfriendliness of systems. One such tool is shown in Table 1 (Matthews & Sewell2002). The evaluation tool is a 5-minute, 15-question, web-based survey. It collectsinformation on whether health literacy is considered in programme development andservice activities; the degree to which organisations follow health literacy principlesin their programmes; whether organisations pilot test materials for comprehension orcultural competence; evaluation of materials; which activities people associate withhealth literacy; and lessons learned.System assessmentsIn addition to activity/intervention analysis, researchers have used assessmenttools to evaluate how well a health service meets the needs of patients with limitedhealth literacy skills. One study applied an assessment tool to a pharmacy setting.It evaluated patient understanding of medications and adherence to prescribedregimens (Jacobson 2008). Additionally, the assessment tools:• Raise pharmacy staff awareness of health literacy issues.• Detect barriers that may prevent people with limited literacy skills fromaccessing, comprehending and using health information and services providedby the organisation.• Identify opportunities forimprovement.Conducting an organisationalassessment may also providea baseline assessment prior toimplementing an intervention.Jacobson identified nine keyelements of an organisational healthliteracy intervention: management,measurement, workforce, careprocess, physical environment,technology, paperwork andThis assessment tool can be accessed at:http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/pharmlit/.26SECTION 3: HOW IS HEALTH LITERACY MEASURED?