4. Patient and family-centred care
- Date: Thursday, September 19, 2019
- Concurrent Session B
-
Time: 3:30pm-4:15pm
- Room: Pier 5
- Style: Workshop (session is structure for interaction and/or hands-on learning opportunities)
- Focus: Balance between both (e.g. Presentation of a best-practice guideline that combines research evidence, policy issues and practical steps for implementation)
- Target Audience: Leadership (ED, clinical lead, board chair, board member, etc.), Clinical providers, Administrative staff, Representatives of stakeholder/partner organizations
Learning Objectives
- What are health literacy and health literacy burden?
- How does improved health literacy help your patients become active partners in their care?
- What can you do to build health literacy capacity for your patients and staff?
Summary/Abstract
Six out of ten people in Canada have low levels of health literacy. Health literacy is defined as the ability to access, understand and use health information and services to make informed decisions. It is a stronger predictor for health status than socioeconomic status, age, or ethnic background. Low health literacy leads to poorer health and higher mortality, and complex health materials are a barrier to health.
To address these concerns, Toronto Western Family Health Team planned and implemented a variety of initiatives to build health literacy capacity of the patients and staff in the past year. The initiatives include offering “Getting the most from your health care appointment” workshop for patients, creating patient education documents and e-Newsletters in plain language, providing teach-back in-service for staff, and reviewing patient facing documents for plain language.
In this presentation, a patient partner and health education specialist will share why health literacy is important in team-based primary care, how Toronto Western Family Health Team has created and implemented a strategy to increase patients’ health literacy level, and to lower health literacy burdens in our clinics while working with the complex organization’s competing priorities. You will gain practical tips and available change management tool kits for building a health literate organization, and how to choose strategies that work for you and your team.
Presenter
- Gem Lee-Herder, MSW, RSW, Health Education Specialist, UHN - Toronto Western Family Health Team
- Robert Muzzy, Patient Presenter
Authors/Contributors
- Rita Kang, BSW, RSW, MEd, Clinic Manager, UHN - Toronto Western Family Health Team Garrison Creek site
- Shelly-Anne Li, MSc, Research Associate, UHN - Toronto Western Family Health Team
- Soumia Meiyappan, MSc, PMP, Project Leader, UHN - Toronto Western Family Health Team