Health Literacy and Clear Communications

This session will raise awareness about the need for clear communication with patients and staff. It will provide participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to use nonmedical language and the Teach-Back Method as a tool to improve provider-patient communication.

After this activity, participants will be able to:

• Describe the impact of low health literacy on patient safety and quality of care;
• Recall the regulatory expectation related to addressing low health literacy;
• State how teach-back can be used to improve patients’ understanding of their condition and medical care;
• Describe the Teach-Back Method and how it can be used in practice;
• Identify when to use plain nonmedical language.