Dental hygienists value providing oral health education to their patients. However, the average person remembers less than 50% of the information provided during a health care visit. Forgetting or misunderstanding health information leads to poorer health outcomes. Health literacy is the degree to which a person has the ability to find, understand and use information and services to inform health related decisions for themselves and others. While poor reading skills may influence health literacy, it is more than reading that makes a person health literate. Organizations and health care providers have a responsibility to create equitable and safe environments for all patients. A key strategy for creating a person-centered practice setting is the “teach-back” tool to confirm understanding. This program will review the impact of low oral health literacy on poor oral health and provide opportunities to practice communication strategies to improve health outcomes.
Learning Objectives:
At the completion of this session attendees will be able to:
Describe the difference between personal health literacy and organizational health literacy.
Discuss the impact of low oral health literacy on patient outcomes in dentistry.
Describe strategies for assessing the health literacy of the dental practice setting.
Demonstrate examples of the “teach back” technique.
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