B1300. Health Literacy

B1300. Health Literacy

Complete only if A0310B = 01 or A0310G = 1 and A0310H = 1.

Item Rationale

Health-related Quality of Life

• Similar to language barriers, low health literacy interferes with communication between provider and resident. Health literacy can also affect residents’ ability to understand and follow treatment plans, including medication management.

• Poor health literacy is linked to lower levels of knowledge of health, worse outcomes, the receipt of fewer preventive services, and higher medical costs and rates of emergency department use.

Planning for Care

• Assessing for health literacy will facilitate better care coordination and discharge planning.

Steps for Assessment

This item is intended to be a resident self-report item. No other source should be used to identify the response.

1. Ask the resident, “How often do you need to have someone help you when you read instructions, pamphlets, or other written material from your doctor or pharmacy?”

Coding Instructions

• Code 0, Never: if the resident indicates never needing help reading instructions, pamphlets, or other written materials from doctors or pharmacies.

• Code 1, Rarely: if the resident indicates rarely needing help reading instructions, pamphlets, or other written materials from doctors or pharmacies.

• Code 2, Sometimes: if the resident indicates sometimes needing help reading instructions, pamphlets, or other written materials from doctors or pharmacies.

• Code 3, Often: if the resident indicates often needing help reading instructions, pamphlets, or other written materials from doctors or pharmacies.

• Code 4, Always: if the resident indicates always needing help reading instructions, pamphlets, or other written materials from doctors or pharmacies.

• Code 7, Resident declines to respond: if the resident declines to respond.

• Code 8, Resident unable to respond: if the resident is unable to respond.

Example

1. When asked how often they need help when reading the instructions provided by their doctor, the resident reports that they never need help. The resident’s adult child is present and shares that a family member must always accompany the resident to doctors’ visits and that the resident often needs someone to explain the written materials to them multiple times before they understand, providing examples of needing to frequently explain to the resident why they are on a special diet and why and how to take some of their medications.

Coding: B1300, Health Literacy is coded as Code 0, Never.

Rationale: The resident indicates they never need help reading instructions from their doctor or pharmacist. B1300, Health Literacy is intended to be a resident self-report item and no other sources, including family members/caregivers, should be used to identify the response to this item.

DEFINITION

HEALTH LITERACY

Health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.