Implementation of health literacy training for clinicians in a federally qualified health center

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this quality improvement project was to evaluate the effectiveness of a succinct health literacy training for providers at a demanding federally qualified health center. METHODS: One group, pretest-posttest design was used to measure for a change in knowledge regarding the effects of limited health literacy, a change in self-reported measure of routine screening for limited health literacy and a change in self-reported utilization of patient-centered communication techniques. RESULTS: The average percentage of correct responses on the Health Literacy Knowledge Check showed significant improvement from 23.6% (SD = 18.1%) to 63.9% (SD = 25.3%), p < .001. There were no significant changes in median responses at pre- and post-intervention for self-reported use of screening and communication techniques (all p > .05). CONCLUSION: This brief training was effective at improving participants' knowledge of health literacy but did not improve use of recommended communication techniques or screening for health literacy. The results suggest that emphasizing a universal precautions approach to health literacy may be more effective with participants who work in high-volume clinics. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: For high-volume clinics, a brief training may improve participants' knowledge but does not increase use of actual communication techniques based on self-report.