Promoting Health Literacy by Training Front-Line Staff in a Hospital Setting

Wilkes-Barre General Hospital WBGH is located in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, which has consistently ranked poorly in national health statistics. The county is higher than average in the age of the population, unemployment, poverty, and other indicators of a population at risk. WBGH is the largest hospital in the area and has a huge impact on the health of the community, especially on the population living in the inner city area where literacy rates are the lowest and poverty is the highest. Through observation and informal questioning it was found that the staff lacks knowledge of the concept of health literacy and its issues. The Patient Education Committee has determined a more systematic approach is needed by staff in providing health information to our patients and community. This project and grant request will fund part of a more comprehensive program. It will be used to increase knowledge of health literacy among the health professionals on staff through training and provide access to additional materials to support health literacy training and patient/consumer health, resource awareness, and the Teach-Back method. Coincidentally and separate from this grant proposal, a FMEA committee was established to do a gap analysis at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital focusing on health literacy. The FMEA committee will develop an internal plan based on its findings. Their findings will be available sometime during the grant period and will serve as a blueprint for possible additional health literacy projects within the hospital.