Easy to Read Health Education Material Improves Oral Health Literacy of Older Adults in Rural Community-Based Care Centers: A Quasi-Experimental Study.

Kuo-Ting Sun,Yin-Hwa Shih,Valendriyani Ningrum,Xin-Yi Lin,Tzong-Ming Shieh,Shih-Min Hsia

doi:10.3390/healthcare9111465

Abstract

Health education increases older adults’ health knowledge and affects their health outcomes. Older adults have physical changes with aging, such as blurred vision and cognitive decline. Therefore, health education materials must be legible in their case. This study, following the “easy (EZ) to read” concept, designed oral health education material and tested the learning effectiveness of older adults in rural community-based care centers in central Taiwan. Three of the communities were provided EZ to read health education material (n = 72), while three were given general text material (n = 57) as the control group. We collected pre-test and post-test scores using the Mandarin version of the oral health literacy adult questionnaire (MOHL-AQ). The demographic background of the EZ to read and general text groups showed no significant difference (p > 0.05). Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) showed that the EZ to read material significantly improved total scores of oral health literacy (p < 0.001). The chi-square test showed a significant improvement in oral health literacy levels (p < 0.001). We suggest applying EZ to read concepts to widen the field of older adult education and to reduce illegibility-induced health knowledge disparities.

Highlights

Rapid urbanization and aging are two inevitable and intersecting demographic trends of the 21st century
The demographic data showed no significant differences in sex, age, educational level, living status, denture status, denture type, or regular dental visit for denture adjustment between the EZ to read group and the general text group (Table 1)
The demographic context of these two groups was well controlled to increase the reliability of the Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) analysis

Summary

Introduction

Rapid urbanization and aging are two inevitable and intersecting demographic trends of the 21st century. According to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) strategy for global aging [2], urban areas should build age-friendly infrastructure and provide health programs by leveraging innovative medical technology. Older adults receive health information from social media, medical professionals in the hospital, and health promotion activities in the community [5]. Physical changes due to aging, such as blurred vision and cognitive decline as well as the low educational level of rural older adults, make health education materials illegible for many of them, impeding them from receiving health information [6]. The design of educational materials should consider their specific requirements. Such individuals need enhanced materials with larger sized words, more images, and shorter sentences [7]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion