Intro -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Foreword -- 1 Understanding Health Literacy -- Health Literacy Defined -- Literacy Surveys in the United States: Introducing the “Average” American -- All Around Us -- Seeing the System Through the Patient’s Eyes -- Texts and Contexts: Broadening Our Perspective -- Dispelling Myths About Low Health Literacy -- Why Health Literacy Matters: Increasing Patient Safety -- Spreading the Word, Closing the Gap -- Health Literacy: Don’t Leave Home Without It -- 2 Creating a Patient-Friendly Environment -- Adult Teaching and Learning -- Reasons for Low Health Literacy -- Health Literacy in the Office Setting -- The Hospital Environment -- 3 Assessing Patients’ Literacy Levels -- Why Test for Literacy Levels? -- Disclosure: The Patient’s Perspective -- Instruments for Assessing Literacy -- Endnote: An Essential Balancing Act -- 4 Understanding and Avoiding Medical Errors -- Listening and Understanding -- Medical Errors Defined -- The Scope of the Problem -- Medication Errors -- Wrong-Site Surgeries and Other Disasters -- Playing Telephone, Taking Responsibility -- Challenges to Plain Language and Effective Communication -- Solutions for Reducing Error and Increasing Clarity -- Endnote: Vigilance and Clear Communication -- 5 Factoring Culture Into the Care Process -- Changing Demographics -- What Is Culture? -- Culture and Patient–Provider Interactions -- Challenges of the Multicultural Environment -- Common Cultural Elements That Affect Health Care -- Body Language/Nonverbal Cues -- Providers as Receivers of Nonverbal Communication -- Providers as Transmitters of Nonverbal Communication -- Toward a Culturally Competent Practice -- Culture and Patient Care: From Beliefs to Brochures -- 6 Improving Patient–Provider Communication -- What Is Effective Communication? -- Talking to Patients, Listening to Patients -- Challenges to Effective Oral Communication -- Other Factors to Consider -- Oral Communication and Low Literacy -- Models of Effective Oral Communication -- Elements of Effective Oral Communication -- Alternatives to Face-to-Face Oral Communication -- Telephone Triage -- Optimizing Patient–Provider Communication -- Dealing With Other Communication Problems -- Communicating for Integrated Care -- 7 Designing Easy-to-Read Patient Education Materials -- Before You Begin Designing Patient Education Materials -- Appearance of Materials -- A Parting Thought: Know Your Audience -- 8 Principles of Writing for Low Literacy -- Planning Your Writing -- Writing Health-Related Patient Materials -- Testing and Revising Materials -- Conducting Focus Groups -- Other Approaches That Involve the End User -- Writing in Another Language -- 9 Using Alternative Forms of Patient Communication -- Verbal Communication -- Visual Communication -- Incorporating Both Speech and Visuals -- Guidelines for Developing Alternative Materials -- Barriers to Media Usage -- Evaluating Patient Learning and Outcomes -- 10 Interpreters and Their Role in the Health Care Setting -- Health Care in Multicultural America -- Low Health Literacy and the Need for Interpreters -- Difference Between Interpreting and Translating -- Interpreting in Nonclinical Contexts -- Interpreting in Clinical Contexts -- Roles Interpreters Play: Some Conceptual Models -- Choosing the Right Kind of Interpreter -- Interpreting and Technology -- Skills Needed by Interpreters -- Standardized Interpreting Protocols: Maximizing Good Communication -- Working With Certified and Noncertified Interpreters -- Errors in Clinical Interpreting -- Cultural Issues in Clinical Interpreting -- Working With Interpreters: How Providers Can Help -- How to Find Interpreters -- HIPAA and the Patient’s Privacy -- Improving Patient Access -- Afterword -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y -- .
