Health-Literacy Training for First-Year Respiratory Therapy Students: A Mixed-Methods Pilot Study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Respiratory therapists (RTs) should communicate with patients in a way that leads to patients understanding their discharge plans and medical device instructions. The teachback method is a patient-centered, health-literate technique that allows health care professionals to confirm patient understanding. The purpose of this mixed-methods pilot study was to measure the use of teach-back by first-year undergraduate RT students in a simulation-center experience after a 1-h teach-back skills training. METHODS: First-year RT students' health literacy knowledge and belief in communication skills were measured using a pre-and post-survey about their knowledge and beliefs. A 1-h health literacy and teach-back skills training lecture (ie, intervention) was delivered after the pre-testing. RT students were then assessed for teach-back use during a regularly scheduled simulation center experience. Their experiences were recorded in a semistructured interview immediately after the simulation-center experience. RESULTS: 14 of 20 RT students used teach-back in the simulation center. Knowledge scores increased from 8.278 to 8.944 postintervention, and the median scores for belief increased from 111 to 117 postintervention. There was a statistically significant postintervention increase in knowledge scores (P < .001) and in communication belief scores (P ‫؍‬ .038). Thematic content analysis revealed 2 primary themes for teach-back use: to confirm patient understanding and to confirm proper use of medical devices. Teach-back was not used due to the discharge scenario used in the simulation center, due to the student forgetting and/or being nervous, due to how engaged the patient was, or due to individual communication style. CONCLUSIONS: Results from our pilot study indicate that RT students may benefit from a 1-h health literacy and teach-back skills training. Furthermore, we identified reasons why the teach-back method was not used and determined what communication training students perceived would be helpful. Our findings can be used to help improve and implement communication skills training in the RT curriculum.

The Agreement between Patients’ and Healthcare Professionals’ Assessment of Patients’ Health Literacy—A Systematic Review

“…HCPs may even benefit from short training programs. Ogrodnick et al [45] piloted a one-hour HL and teach-back skills training session in a group of respiratory therapists; knowledge and communications scores increased significantly.…”

Professional Responsiveness to Health Literacy: A Scoping Review

“…The interventions identified in the review totaled 19 strategies, divided into 5 subcategories (Table B ) : Expositive ( n = 18; 94.7%). Includes interventions that used instructional methods, such as lecture ( Ogrodnick et al, 2020 ), study session with presentation ( Trujillo & Figler, 2015 ) and lectures ( Niemi et al, 2018 ). Interactive ( n = 9; 47.4%).…”

“… Standardized patient or simulation ( n = 8; 42.1%). This included the use of simulated care with a standardized patient ( Marion et al, 2018 ), scenarios where participants played roles ( Mackert et al, 2011 ), and simulation centers ( Ogrodnick et al, 2020 ). Practices with actual patients ( n = 4; 21.1%).…”

Effectiveness of Innovative Instructional Module for Professional Competence in Health Literacy in Medical Students

“…In terms of medical eld organizational hierarchy, this study emphasizes the importance of teaching and intervention effects of health literacy courses in healthcare professional education. [37][38][39][40][41][42] In clinical and community elds, there have been studies on professional competence in health literacy with variegated practicing healthcare professionals or medical students as subjects; after implementing comprehensive teaching intervention on functional, interactive, and critical health literacy, the study found signi cant progress in knowledge, attitude, and skills. [24,33,43] Our study applied a similar curriculum design concept; we can see that comprehensive teaching module is a reliable and cogent teaching method in both clinical and school settings.…”