Section 3. Recommendations for the pilot Health Education Centres
The recommendations regarding the Health Education Centres have been derived from
the results of the Needs Assessment as well as from the Background Document on Literacy and Health.
This initiative is based on the belief that by being better informed and educated about their health and self-care, hard-to-reach patients and their families will become more involved as active participants in their health care and make more informed choices. This will contribute to improved self-care and better health. As this group of patients draws heavily on the health care system, the outcomes of this project also hold promise as a way of reducing system costs, as well as increasing quality of life.
The initial proposal for Phase I used the term "Health Literacy Centre." We now recommend that the term "Health Education Centres" be used instead because:
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Using the term "Literacy Centres" would not be a good strategy to attract patients and family members. There is a stigma attached to the term "literacy," and in French, the term "alphabétisation" carries an even greater stigma. This problem has long been acknowledged in the literacy community.
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Using the term "Patient Education Centres" seems to exclude families. The Needs Assessment confirmed the critical role played by families in the education process of hard-to-reach patients. It is recommended that the Centres target hard-to-reach patients and their families.
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The plural term "Centres" reflects the finding from the Needs Assessment that patients and families do not want one single Health Education Centre for the hospital. They want decentralised centres, i.e. one centre per unit.
Definition of terms
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Hard-to-reach patients include low-literate patients, patients who face language or cultural barriers and patients with learning difficulties due to cognitive or physical disabilities.
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Health information includes all the information given to patients in written form (pamphlets, hand-outs, booklets, etc.), through oral communication or by other means such as health videos, visual documents, etc.
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Health education refers to the process by which health care workers facilitate the learning of patients and their families about health. This learning process involves being able to understand and use the health information.
Rationale
The Health Education Centres will serve as pilot projects to test the effectiveness of selected information and education strategies identified by the Needs Assessment.
Goal
The goal of the Health Education Centres is to improve the health information given to and the health education of hard-to-reach patients and their families.
Objectives
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To offer appropriate and effective health information and education to hard-to-reach patients and their families. Our target group is composed of hard-to-reach patients and their families. However, the Centres will be open to all patients.
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To offer professional training to health care professionals involved in the health information and education of hard-to-reach patients. This will be done through in-service workshops in the three participating units.
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To gather and disseminate information and findings concerning health literacy. We identified key Canadian players and institutions involved in health literacy in Section 3 of the Health Literacy Background Document. Findings, evaluation results and lessons learned will be disseminated to these potential collaborators and other stakeholders in the larger health/literacy community. This will be done through oral, written and on-line reports, briefings, newsletters, working papers and journal articles. We will also inform and exchange with the health literacy community in the United States and internationally.
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To evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies used to improve the health information given to and health education of hard-to-reach patients and their families. This ongoing evaluation will serve to improve the education strategies used in the three pilot Health Education Centres.
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