Has it ever happened to you that when you left the medical or nursing consultation you have more doubts than before entering or you have not found out half of what he has told you?
This is likely to be the case. In fact, according to a recent study carried out in Great Britain, only 49% of patients remembered their doctor’s instructions. 36% needed a reminder to know what they had discussed in consultation and 15% remembered them incorrectly.
In addition to the stress of the moment – because you are not feeling well, because you are in an unfamiliar environment that it is likely that it was difficult for you to get inside the health center, hospital or clinic – we must also add that the information they give you is not It is always simple: it is full of technical words, abbreviations, strange names or figures and, moreover, it is transmitted in a condensed way in a very limited time for the duration of the consultation.
It is also true that the medical consultation begins and ends outside the health office, because you can consult your closest circle or search for information on the internet. In fact, according to the Report on Digital Health Literacy of European citizens, six out of ten people already consulted their symptoms in 2014 . And, in the same proportion, according to the ONTSI study Patients and e-health : six out of 10 Spaniards in 2015 already used the internet as a source of health-related information, using a search engine as the first and only option to access this information.
This is an easy, immediate and cheap option (even anonymous, as some adolescents naively add) but that, despite giving us information, does not ensure that we will find an answer to what we are really looking for . Thus, often, we arrive at erroneous or confusing information, we still do not understand it or even in the end we misunderstand it.
Bad business. To stay healthy and take care (and take care of ourselves) it is essential to know how to access, understand, judge, and effectively use the information available.
In Europe, one in two people has a limited level of health literacy , according to the results of the HLS-EU project survey: the average health literacy rate of 12.4% of Europeans was inadequate (7.5 % in Spain), while 35.2% in Europe had problematic literacy (50.8% in Spain). And recent updates to the survey in the Spanish geography do not present more favorable data.
What do these data mean? Despite the connotations of the term literacy , it has nothing to do with our being illiterate or knowing nothing about taking care of our health and that of our own. Furthermore, literacy ‘in’ and ‘for’ health does not depend only on us, the citizens; These results are appealing to a set of elements that go beyond people’s abilities, and also include difficulties in accessing the health system , and the skills of my primary care professional. Because, nobody is aware that if they explain better what happens to you and what you have to do, surely you will be better able to take care of yourself, right? Or that if the signage in a health center to request a new appointment is clear, it will be easier for us to find the right counter. In other words, literacy means training (or training) and facilitating at the same time, that is, it is a relational and dynamic concept; and that appeals to all of us.
Many of these competences have to do with the type of relationship established between professionals and citizens (whether or not they are patients). Maintaining effective communication between the protagonists, better clinical results and faster relief of symptoms are achieved, improves sensitivity and the impact of prevention plans, increases adherence to treatment and, of course, improves patient satisfaction. like professionals. And this also results in a decrease in investment in the health system.
From a digital health perspective, information and communication technologies can facilitate the scope and impact of this necessary interaction between patients and professionals. However, this requires, in many cases, learning and practicing new skills related to the digital dimension. But that the trees do not prevent us from seeing the forest, because in the context of digital health, the most important thing is still good communication between professionals and patients.
Facilitate communication skills training
The Communication between healthcare professionals and patients report promoted by the Spanish Patient Forum and the Novartis company, which was presented at the beginning of last year, emphasized the need to promote communication and training in this regard, both for healthcare professionals and from the patients. Among the strategies proposed by the patients to improve communication, subsequently agreed with the experts, were included the continuous training of social and health professionals in values and communicational aspects. In addition, it was urged to provide channels for training and information for patients, families and caregivers.
This is also the objective of the Conversations for Health cycle that is being promoted by the Health Literacy Interest Group, made up of experts from different universities in which the UOC eHealth Center participates and which has official recognition as an activity of sanitary interest.
To do this, they have organized a cycle of practical training workshops , aimed mainly at professionals and students of Health Sciences degrees, which aims to establish a moment of reflection on the different aspects of health literacy and facilitate knowledge, techniques, tools and resources that promote communication between patients and health professionals. With the financial support of the Open University of Catalonia (UOC), two sessions were held in Vigo and Girona at the end of last year, and another three are planned for San Sebastián / Donostia (February 28), Santa Cruz de Tenerife ( March 27) and Madrid (April 24).
The working group has been made up of experts from the Health Promotion Chair of the University of Girona, the Catalan Network of Health Promoting Hospitals, the University of Cádiz, the University of Murcia, the Evaluation Service of the Canary Islands Service Health Department and the UOC eHealth Center.
Driven by the common interest in literacy for health, the group is actively collaborating to define actions and projects that contribute to improving the processes of care and social health care through the generation of synergies and alliances of other key agents in education for health, represented in the Network of Schools of Health for Citizenship in institutions such as the Andalusian School of Public Health, the School of Health for Citizens of Galicia, the Expert Patient Program of Catalonia or the Active Patient Program of the Basque Country.
Article prepared by Ignacio del Arco and Eulàlia Hernández.
eHealth Center, Open University of Catalonia.
