TY - JOUR
T1 - You Can Teach Every Patient
T2 - A Health Literacy and Clear Communication Curriculum for Pediatric Clerkship Students
AU - Spengler, Emily
AU - Schechter, Miriam
AU - Pina, Paulo
AU - Rhim, Hai Jung Helen
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Spengler et al.
PY - 2021/1/22
Y1 - 2021/1/22
N2 - Introduction: Poor health literacy has a negative impact on various health care outcomes. Medical schools are not consistently providing health literacy training; when they do, they overly rely on didactics. Methods: Our curriculum for third-year pediatric clerkship students taught principles of health literacy and evidence-supported clear communication strategies. Communication skills were structured on a novel mnemonic: CTEP (clear language, teach-back, effectively encouraging questions, and pictures). The curriculum included a 30-minute didactic, followed 1-2 weeks later by a 90-minute interactive workshop. All 188 clerkship students attended the didactic lecture; approximately half (90) attended the follow-up workshop. All students completed a formative objective structured clinical encounter. Standardized patients then evaluated students' use of the four clear communication skills. Students completed a survey to assess confidence, knowledge, and use of the skills. Results: Compared to the didactic-only group, students in the didactic + workshop group more frequently used teach-back (53% vs. 27%, p < .01) and pictures (46% vs. 10%, p < .01). In addition, the didactic + workshop group had improved recall, self-reported use, and comfort with the skills. The didactic + workshop group solicited questions from the standardized patient less often, and there was no difference in use of clear language between the two groups. Discussion: An interactive curriculum in health literacy and clear communication for pediatric clerkship students was superior to a didactic alone. Optimizing instructional methods for health literacy skills can help future physicians properly communicate with their patients to improve health outcomes.
AB - Introduction: Poor health literacy has a negative impact on various health care outcomes. Medical schools are not consistently providing health literacy training; when they do, they overly rely on didactics. Methods: Our curriculum for third-year pediatric clerkship students taught principles of health literacy and evidence-supported clear communication strategies. Communication skills were structured on a novel mnemonic: CTEP (clear language, teach-back, effectively encouraging questions, and pictures). The curriculum included a 30-minute didactic, followed 1-2 weeks later by a 90-minute interactive workshop. All 188 clerkship students attended the didactic lecture; approximately half (90) attended the follow-up workshop. All students completed a formative objective structured clinical encounter. Standardized patients then evaluated students' use of the four clear communication skills. Students completed a survey to assess confidence, knowledge, and use of the skills. Results: Compared to the didactic-only group, students in the didactic + workshop group more frequently used teach-back (53% vs. 27%, p < .01) and pictures (46% vs. 10%, p < .01). In addition, the didactic + workshop group had improved recall, self-reported use, and comfort with the skills. The didactic + workshop group solicited questions from the standardized patient less often, and there was no difference in use of clear language between the two groups. Discussion: An interactive curriculum in health literacy and clear communication for pediatric clerkship students was superior to a didactic alone. Optimizing instructional methods for health literacy skills can help future physicians properly communicate with their patients to improve health outcomes.
KW - Communication Skills
KW - Curriculum Development
KW - Health Literacy
KW - Pediatrics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85100461828&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85100461828&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.15766/mep_2374-8265.11086
DO - 10.15766/mep_2374-8265.11086
M3 - Article
C2 - 33501376
AN - SCOPUS:85100461828
SN - 2374-8265
VL - 17
SP - 11086
JO - MedEdPORTAL : the journal of teaching and learning resources
JF - MedEdPORTAL : the journal of teaching and learning resources
ER -