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"Roadblocks, Stop Signs": Health Literacy, Education And Communication At A Free Medical Clinic, Sally Jane Huntington

Teaching and Leadership - Dissertations

This qualitative study, which takes place in a free medical clinic for low-income and uninsured patients, addresses the patients' health literacy and access to health information inside and outside of the clinic setting, as well as the strategies clinic providers use to effectively communicate health information. This study is based on participant observation in an urban clinic in the Northeast, interviews of 22 patients and 20 health-care providers, and direct observation of the patient/provider communication in nine instances. In the clinic, the providers serve as educators for vulnerable, stressed patients, who are adult learners. The patients were interviewed in order …