Other Nursing Commons^™

Improving Patient Health Literacy: Implementation Of Health Literacy Tool & Hematology Oncology Patient Education Checklist, Ala'a Samih Mitoubsi

Graduate Publications and Other Selected Works - Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Purpose: Increase health literacy and communication using a tool with a discharge checklist to facilitate communication and understanding among patients, physicians, and nursing staff.

Background and significance: In the United States, 90 million people are affected by low health literacy impairing their ability to understand and comprehend health information (Institute of Medicine et al., 2004). Another 40 million Americans have difficulty reading complex texts that makes reading health information difficult (Institute of Medicine et al., 2004). The Affordable Care Act emphasizes the need for increased self-care as a key strategy for improving health care costs and improving the quality …