October 2009 marks the 11th year of Health Literacy Month, created in 1999 by Helen Osborne, M.Ed., OTR/L, and a team of health literacy advocates as a time to promote the importance of understandable health information. This year, the theme of Health Literacy Month is “Why Health Literacy Matters: Sharing Our Stories in Words, Pictures, and Sound.” The website www.healthliteracymonth.org features a variety of stories, articles, podcasts, photo galleries, and songs dedicated to the cause.

As part of Health Literacy Month, Boston University encouraged its students and staff to get involved and contribute to the health literacy awareness efforts. Dr. Pauline C. Hamel, a professor in Boston University’s online Master of Science in Health Communication program contributed her essay “Plain and Simple: It’s about Respect and Dignity,” (http://www.healthliteracy.com/hlm_article.asp?PageID=9121) a story about her efforts and trials in spreading the important message of health literacy. In addition, a student in the online Master of Science in Health Communication program, Dr. William Rohde, represented Boston University with his essay entitled “Listen, Explain, Save Lives,” (http://www.healthliteracy.com/hlm_article.asp?PageID=9118) a story about saving a patient’s life through communication and understanding.

Health communication as a field evolved in response to the need to recognize the importance of increasing personal and public health literacy. Boston University’s online Master of Science in Health Communication addresses the growing need for health professionals to become leaders in the health literacy movement. Health professionals who can recognize patient needs and use easily understandable messaging and communication techniques are in demand in their community and across the world. For more information about Boston University’s online Master of Science in Health Communication, visit http://healthcommunication.bu.edu/

At the conference, Dr. Pauline Hamel, a professor at Boston University’s online Master of Science in Health Communication, presented her poster presentation “Health Literacy and Physical Therapists: Feedback from the Field.” The presentation focused on the meaning of health literacy, increasing the current levels of health literacy throughout the industry, and identifying the current standards in communication practice. The objective is to explore aspects of patient-provider communication, patient comprehension, and compliance in order to raise awareness and create better communication and treatment options.

View Dr. Pauline Hamel’s poster presentation from the IHA Health Literacy Conference.

The content from the poster presentation is listed below:

Background

With the increasing complexity and number of  medical errors in the delivery of health care today, the purpose of this research was to explore and identify gaps in the current knowledge of health literacy (within the broader scope of health communication), among physical therapists (PTs) and doctoral physical therapist (DPT) students. Within a patient-centered approach, this research explored current levels of knowledge and definitions of health literacy, as well as methods used by this target population.

Objectives

• To identify the “meaning of health literacy” among physical therapist clinicians and DPT students
• To identify relevant industry standards and recommendations regarding health literacy
• To explore aspects of patient-provider and provider-provider communication, patient comprehension, and compliance
• To identify communication methods currently used by physical therapists in academic and clinical settings

Description

Participants were selected and interviewed in academic, clinical practice, conference, and home settings. Research based  upon  interviews with physical therapists and DPT students, communications industry consultants, instructional designers, and a pilot module with 37 health science students.

Approach

Qualitative research methods that included literature/document review, interview, and pilot testing were used to assess current levels of knowledge of health literacy and communication methods and approaches used by PTs in academia & clinical practice.

Target Population

Practicing PTs and DPT students were interviewed for this qualitative research. Categories included 3 cohorts:
(a)  graduate DPT students
(b)  PTs 3-5 years post graduation
(c)  PTs > 5 years post-graduation in academic, practice, & homecare settings

Findings

Meaning of Health Literacy

Some participants admitted that they were unfamiliar with the term health literacy, and definitions were, in many cases, “educated guesses” based upon reflection and recall of the word “literacy.” “We touched on it a little bit [in school]…Um…Health literacy. . . well, it’s uh…”

Health Literacy in Physical Therapy

Participants frequently used the terms communication, health communication, and health literacy interchangeably.  However, some did express the opinion that health literacy would improve between health professionals and non-professionals if health communication improved. “The better the health communication is between the health professional and non-health professional, the better the health literacy would be.”

Patient-Client Comprehension

Participants expressed that sometimes they need to use alternative methods, such as demonstration, touch, teach-back, or interpreters to help their patients comprehend PT instructions. But many still ask their patients, “Do you have any questions?” “Sometimes we think others should understand, and we assume that they do when in fact they don’t. We need to ask them to repeat it back to make sure they get it.”

Patient/Client Adherence and Compliance

More experienced PTs stressed the importance of special equipment, visual aids and models, and providing rationale for treatment in order to ensure compliance.
“Patients are petrified when in fact they appear ‘disinterested,’ which we see as ‘non-compliant.’  Non-compliance is a health literacy issue.”

FINDINGS demonstrate:

• That gaps exist in PT awareness and knowledge of health literacy
• That though PTs see themselves as clinicians and educators, they do not  generally perceive themselves as health communicators
• The need for formal HL training in academic and clinical settings
• The need for ongoing HL research  and development of industry standards and competencies for future clinical practice and training purposes

Implications for the Future (Policy, Delivery, Practice)

This research illustrates:

• That health literacy can be a bridge between research and practice
• That health literacy does not  stand alone, as it is part of an inter-dependent relationship and larger health communication picture
• The growing need for comprehensive health communication programs that include coursework in health communication, health literacy, health education, and professional development to expand the scope and roles of practitioners and communications professionals alike in academic, clinical education, and practice settings
• The importance of collaboration  and partnerships between health providers and non-health disciplines, including policymakers, educators, communications experts, and instructional designers to promote effective health literacy methods and materials, increased awareness, improved competencies and standards, and professional commitment to these priorities in academic, clinical, and other practice settings
• The need for further interdisciplinary research to ascertain more comprehensive and effective curricula, methods, and approaches to teach and implement evidence-based health communication and  health literacy practices in academic, clinical, and workplace settings

To learn more about the new Center for Global Health and Development, visit http://www.bu.edu/today/node/9494

The Health Communication online degree program is designed to be manageable within the lifestyle of busy students like you. All course content will be delivered directly to you via the course website.

Learn Online Anywhere

All course content is delivered through a combination of lectures, readings, discussions, online assignments, and peer and professional support systems. You can also access discussion boards, interactive exercises, class e-mail, weekly chats, assignments, exams, and course materials with a click of a mouse.

Integrate Workplace Projects

As you advance through the program, you will be able to apply your growing educational base at work, and also integrate workplace issues into some of your projects.

Learn Together

As a student in our progressive program, you will be assigned to a small group of your peers led by a faculty member. This learning community will interact with you through online communication tools such as discussion, weekly chat sessions, Wikis, and e-mail. The virtual classroom will enable you to learn and achieve success together.

Learn from Outstanding Faculty

Working with such established faculty will prepare you to enter the professional world, both in your workplace, and by giving back to the Health Communication community.

Within the program, students will actively engage in discussion, assignments, and research utilizing skills and knowledge from the fields of public relations, marketing, law, and technology to effectively emerge as a well-rounded professional Health Communicator. This unique multi-disciplinary format offer significant benefits to the participating student which includes access to world class faculty, talented peers, industry experts, and groundbreaking educational content that form an enriching online learning community and experience.

In all, this online program consists of 40 total credit hours and is comprised in part from courses within the distinguished Boston University College of Communication.

Please read below to learn more about the courses that make up the Master of Science in Health Communication.

Course Benefits:

Students will:

• Learn theories, strategies, and tactics in current practice emphasized and applied to health communication.
• Explore opportunities and requirements for work in the field.
• Apply the basic public relations campaign planning model and examine public relations specialty practice areas including media relations, community relations, government relations, crisis communication, investor relations, and employee communication.

Students  will:
•    Gain an understanding of the strategy and tactics of IAMC and its place in the more comprehensive field of marketing communication.
•    Review IAMC’s relationship to and its effects on society, culture, and the economic system.

Sample Course Assignments

Week #1 - Assignment
Cookies Report

Please surf the Internet, find good, factual sources (including some that are articles with authors, titles, dates and publications) and write an explanation of cookies and how they can enhance both user experience and interactive marketing in general. Please include BOTH sides of the controversy surrounding cookies (privacy concerns v. enhancing the user experience). Write your own 2-page synopsis of the cookie concept and current situation. Include current industry trends or issues related to cookies. Include the title, author, date, and publication of your articles on a separate page: Article title, author, date, publication/URL.

Note: You will not have access to Lecture 1B before you submit this assignment.

Length: Two-page report plus a resource page.
Weight: 10% of your overall grade.

Week #2 - Assignment/Exercise
Database Marketing/LTV

Research the concepts of database marketing and Lifetime Value (LTV) to develop a grasp of the key principles and basic theory behind them. There are thousands of good articles available online, so you’ll have to sift through and find some good ones (they don’t have to be dated within the last two years, but you should have a couple that are up to date for perspective).

Note: You will not have access to Lecture 2B before you submit this assignment.

Length: Three-page report plus a resource page.
Weight: 15% of your overall grade.

Site Navigation Exercise (ungraded)

Though this is an ungraded exercise, the discussion aspect will be factored into your overall discussion grade. Read the course lecture notes and a couple of articles you find on your own to develop a grasp of the key principles and elements of good, intuitive website navigation. Since 1993, a number of fairly standard design and navigation elements or practices have evolved to make it easier for users to know what to expect and how to find what they seek.

Choose a site that is related to health communications for your critique. Deconstruct its objectives and strategies:

• How does the site attempt to acquire personally identifiable information (PII) for purposes of future database marketing?

• Has the site built-in any ways of personalizing the experience for return customers? If not, what are the opportunities?

• Critique the design and navigation: what’s good? Bad? What could they do to improve it?

• Critique special actions such as user-involvement games, the appointment/transaction process, information download, or registration process:

• How many steps are involved?

• How easy is it?

• What would improve it?

Please also be prepared to discuss your findings in the discussion area, titled “Site Navigation Exercise Discussion.”

Week #3 - Exercise
eMail Exercise (ungraded)

Though this is an ungraded exercise, the discussion aspect will be factored into your overall discussion grade.
Read course lecture notes on email as well as a couple of current articles you find on your own. Deconstruct and analyze a non-spam commercial/marketing HTML email—meaning an email that uses graphics and tries to accomplish a marketing objective. Discuss the marketing objective(s), the target market, the subject line, the preview panel, the offer, privacy and unsubscribe options and the effectiveness of the landing page (the link they want you to click through to).

Please also be prepared to discuss your findings in the discussion area, titled “eMail Exercise Discussion.”

Week #4 - Midterm and Exercise
Midterm Exam Due
PPC/AdWords Team Exercise (ungraded)

Although this is an ungraded exercise, the discussion aspect will be factored into your overall discussion grade.
The challenge is to imagine you’ve created a health-related service, either nationally or regionally (nothing weird or unusual, please). Our goal is to create a typical AdWord campaign to drive traffic to the site and then conversions (you decide what the “conversion” should be: registration for newsletters or future database marketing, generating appointments, etc.

The instructor and facilitators will determine the 2- or 3-person teams prior to the beginning of Week 4.
Please also be prepared to discuss your findings in the discussion area, titled “PPC/AdWords Team Discussion.”

Week #5 - Assignment
SEO Report

Research and write a two-page report (2.5 pages max, plus resource page) on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and include a paragraph on the Paid Inclusion controversy. These are two separate but related concepts.

Summarize Search Engine Optimization, SEO best practices and why it’s important (note: SEO is not, and should not be confused with, paid per click search, sometimes referred to as PPC).

Summarize Paid Inclusion and objectively explain both sides of the debate (why Yahoo uses it and Google never did). Explain why Paid Inclusion does guarantee your web page will be included in a search engine’s index, but NOT necessarily included as a listing in the search results for your desired keywords.

Note: You will not have access to Lecture 5A before you submit this assignment.

Length: Two-page report plus a resource page.
Weight: 10% of your overall grade.

Week #6 - Assignments
Rich Media Report

Research current information on rich media online advertising: definition, IAB guidelines, popular formats, as well as online video advertising. What are the advantages of using rich media ads as opposed to static display ads? What are its limitations? Examine two popular web publishers (Washingtonpost.com, Marthastewart.com, etc.) that accept rich media ads and compare their technical specifications. Look for the Media Kit—usually there’s a link for it or for “Advertisers” at page bottom. Include what they say about audio and what they allow in terms of length/timing/file size, etc.

Note: You will not have access to Lecture 6B before you submit this assignment.

Length: Two-page report plus a resource page.
Weight: 10% of your overall grade.

Week #7- Final Projects
Final Exam Due

Course Benefits:
Students enrolled in the American Health Care System for Health Communicators will: