Addressing the Health Literacy Gap for Low-Income Families in Houston by Monica Tello

Population and Needs:

mtellousa — 2024-10-31 14:53:22 UTC

The community I am focusing on is low-income families in Houston. Some families face barriers to accessing healthcare services due to low health literacy. Health literacy is obtaining and understanding basic health information needed to make health decisions (Sorensen et al., 2018). The growing issues within this population are navigating the healthcare system, understanding medical instructions, and managing health conditions, all of which affect individuals with limited educational resources (Park, Lee, & Kang, 2018).

Needs Assessment

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This population often struggles to understand medical terms, prescriptions, or insurance policies, which prevent them from managing their chronic conditions. These barriers result in occupational injustice, low-income families are denied equal opportunities to engage in health-promoting activities due to their limited health literacy. Occupational Justice emphasizes the right to access health information and allows them to make informed choices (Zaritsky & Van Hirtum, 2022).

Health Literacy For All

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This program, Health Literacy for All, will empower low-income families with the knowledge and skills needed to navigate the healthcare system, understand medical instructions, and have better control over their health management. This program will be offered in different community centers around Houston, where it is easily accessible to different families. This program will run for 12 weeks, with 2-hour weekly sessions, each week, focusing on a different health literacy component.

Program Activites

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Weekly workshops will focus on critical topics such as navigating health insurance, medication instructions, and managing chronic diseases. Within these workshops, layman terms will be used in visual aids and hands-on activities to make the information more accessible.
Occupational Therapist Consultations: Local occupational therapists will provide one-on-one consultations to participants to understand their health concerns and help create strategies for better self-management. These consultations will be designed to help meet the individual’s health literacy.
Technology Training: Many healthcare services are now offered digitally, and appointments and patient portals are some examples. This program will offer training on how to access and use these websites. This will allow more participants to engage in more modern healthcare technologies.

Outputs:
12 weekly 2 hour workshops focusing on health literacy.
Individual consultation with occupational therapist.
Sessions training on using healthcare related digital tools and patient portals.
Educational materials and resources on navigating healthcare systems, managing chronic conditions, and understanding prescriptions.

Inputs:
Funding, digital equipment, and community space access.
Occupational therapist and healthcare educators volunteers.
Health literacy education material.
Social media marketing.

Advocacy and Funding

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I will partner with local hospitals and clinics to refer patients with low health literacy to my program. This will allow me to raise awareness among healthcare professionals and remind them of the importance of communication adjustment strategies for patients with lower literacy levels. To address issues within my community, I will write letters to government officials to push for policies that will help improve access to more explicit health information and support lower-income families.

Our program will be funded through grants to reduce health disparities, Texas Health and Human Services provides grants focusing on health improvement within the community (Texas Health and Human Services, 2024). I will also ask for private donations from local businesses and non-profit organizations. Within our social media platforms, we will raise awareness of our program.

References

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Park, S. Y., Lee, H., & Kang, M. (2018). Factors affecting health literacy among immigrants- systematic review. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 72(6), 511-517. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2017-209060

Sorensen, K., et al. (2018). Health literacy and public health: A systematic review and integration of definitions and models. BMC Public Health.

Texas Health and Human Services. (2024). Open grant opportunities. Retrieved from https://resources.hhs.texas.gov/

Zaritsky, R.N., & Van Hirtum, S. (2022). Exploring occupational justice: The role of occupational therapy in addressing social injustices.

Outcomes

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Short term: In 0-3 months, increase knowledge among participants about basic health concepts and navigating healthcare. Comfort will be increased in understanding prescriptions and medical instructions.

Medium-term: In 3-6 months, participants will have improved self-management skills for chronic conditions and increased usage of digital healthcare services.

Long Term: In 6 months or more, patients will have greater independence in health management. They will feel more empowered to make informed health decisions. Community engagement will increase awareness regarding health literacy needs.

Impact

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The impact this program will have is a reduction in health disparities by enhancing health literacy and providing more access to healthcare information. This program will help to empower low-income families to have better health outcomes when making informed health decisions and accessing health care tools. A more inclusive healthcare environment will be provided to increase greater awareness among healthcare professionals on the importance of health communication.