Workshop series for occupational therapists using the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit and other supported tools

Abstract

Objective: Health literacy is the ability to access, understand, evaluate and communicate information in a manner that promotes, maintains and improves health care in a variety of settings across the life span. Health professionals, including occupational therapists (OTs), need to consider health literacy in order to optimise client-centred interventions that promote self-management of chronic conditions, health and wellness. The goal of this small-scale cohort study was to determine if a health literacy workshop series for OTs could improve their working knowledge of health literacy, and increase their self-perceived ability to identify, assess and implement client-centred interventions to at-risk patients. Design: Over a 6-week period, six OT professionals participated in a customised workshop series, incorporating elements of the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ) Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit (the Toolkit) and other AHRQ-supported health literacy resources. Method: A one-group, pre–posttest mixed methods design was used to measure outcomes. Results: Results of this study suggests that participation in a health literacy education programme featuring the Toolkit and other AHRQ-supported tools can improve OTs’ self-perceived ability to identify, assess and provide client-centred services to their patients. Responses to open-ended questions both pre-and post-intervention align with the literature in that health care professionals, like OTs, can benefit from customised health literacy training to improve client-centred care by implementing specific health literacy strategies into their clinical practice.