TY - JOUR
T1 - Improving Health Literacy Responsiveness
T2 - A Randomized Study on the Uptake of Brochures on Doctor-Patient Communication in Primary Health Care Waiting Rooms
AU - Jansen, Carel J. M.
AU - Koops van't Jagt, Ruth
AU - Reijneveld, Sijmen A.
AU - van Leeuwen, Ellen
AU - de Winter, Andrea F.
AU - Hoeks, John C. J.
PY - 2021/5
Y1 - 2021/5
N2 - Presenting attractive and useful health education materials in waiting rooms can help improve an organization's health literacy responsiveness. However, it is unclear to what extent patients may be interested in health education materials, such as brochures. We conducted a three-week field study in waiting rooms of three primary care centers in Groningen. Three versions of a brochure on doctor-patient communication were randomly distributed, 2250 in total. One version contained six short photo stories, another version was non-narrative but contained comparable photos, and the third version was a traditional brochure. Each day we counted how many brochures were taken. We also asked patients (N = 471) to participate in a brief interview. Patients who consented (N = 390) were asked if they had noticed the brochure. If yes (N = 135), they were asked why they had or had not browsed the brochure, and why they had or had not taken it. Interview responses were categorized by two authors. Only 2.9% of the brochures were taken; no significant association with brochure version was found. Analysis of the interview data showed that the version with the photo narrative was noticed significantly more often than the non-narrative version or the traditional version. These results suggest that designing attractive and comprehensible health materials is not enough. Healthcare organizations should also create effective strategies to reach their target population.
AB - Presenting attractive and useful health education materials in waiting rooms can help improve an organization's health literacy responsiveness. However, it is unclear to what extent patients may be interested in health education materials, such as brochures. We conducted a three-week field study in waiting rooms of three primary care centers in Groningen. Three versions of a brochure on doctor-patient communication were randomly distributed, 2250 in total. One version contained six short photo stories, another version was non-narrative but contained comparable photos, and the third version was a traditional brochure. Each day we counted how many brochures were taken. We also asked patients (N = 471) to participate in a brief interview. Patients who consented (N = 390) were asked if they had noticed the brochure. If yes (N = 135), they were asked why they had or had not browsed the brochure, and why they had or had not taken it. Interview responses were categorized by two authors. Only 2.9% of the brochures were taken; no significant association with brochure version was found. Analysis of the interview data showed that the version with the photo narrative was noticed significantly more often than the non-narrative version or the traditional version. These results suggest that designing attractive and comprehensible health materials is not enough. Healthcare organizations should also create effective strategies to reach their target population.
KW - health literacy responsiveness
KW - organizational health literacy
KW - health literacy
KW - health information
KW - health communication
KW - waiting room
KW - doctor-patient communication
KW - photo story
KW - fotonovela
KW - narrative health communication
KW - NARRATIVE COMMUNICATION
KW - STATISTICAL EVIDENCE
KW - INTERVENTIONS
KW - INFORMATION
KW - PERSUASION
KW - FRAMEWORK
KW - EDUCATION
KW - PROGRAM
U2 - 10.3390/ijerph18095025
DO - 10.3390/ijerph18095025
M3 - Article
C2 - 34068577
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 18
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
IS - 9
M1 - 5025
ER -