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The importance of building trust and tailoring interactions when meeting older adults’ health literacy needs

The importance of building trust and tailoring interactions when meeting older adults’ health literacy needs
The importance of building trust and tailoring interactions when meeting older adults’ health literacy needs
Purpose: Health literacy is the ability to access, understand and use health information. This study qualitatively explored the views and experiences of older adults with varying health literacy levels who had attended a falls clinic on their overall experience of the falls clinic, access to the service and provider–patient interaction.

Methods: Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine older adults using a falls clinic in England. Health literacy was assessed using the REALM and NVS-UK. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and interrogated using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).

Results: Two superordinate themes emerged from the analysis: The importance of trust and relationship building to achieve effective communication with older adults; and the importance of tailoring education and healthcare to older adults’ individual health literacy needs and preferences.

Conclusions: The findings corroborate previous research emphasising the importance of face-to-face communication in responding to older adults’ individual health literacy needs. Building trust in the relationship and tailoring communication to older adults’ individual attributes and preferred learning styles is essential. Healthcare practitioners and managers should consider how service organisation and communication methods can enhance positive and effective relationships with patients. Improved training could support healthcare providers in meeting patients’ personal communication needs.
0963-8288
1-8
Brooks, Charlotte
f1772470-2f7d-4738-96d8-01d0c1b6ea3a
Ballinger, Claire
1495742c-90aa-4074-920e-95e6cc3d5380
Nutbeam, Donald
352dc808-9160-42e7-8b52-b8cac02ad486
Adams, Jo
6e38b8bb-9467-4585-86e4-14062b02bcba
Brooks, Charlotte
f1772470-2f7d-4738-96d8-01d0c1b6ea3a
Ballinger, Claire
1495742c-90aa-4074-920e-95e6cc3d5380
Nutbeam, Donald
352dc808-9160-42e7-8b52-b8cac02ad486
Adams, Jo
6e38b8bb-9467-4585-86e4-14062b02bcba

Brooks, Charlotte, Ballinger, Claire, Nutbeam, Donald and Adams, Jo (2016) The importance of building trust and tailoring interactions when meeting older adults’ health literacy needs. Disability and Rehabilitation, 1-8. (doi:10.1080/09638288.2016.1231849).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Purpose: Health literacy is the ability to access, understand and use health information. This study qualitatively explored the views and experiences of older adults with varying health literacy levels who had attended a falls clinic on their overall experience of the falls clinic, access to the service and provider–patient interaction.

Methods: Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine older adults using a falls clinic in England. Health literacy was assessed using the REALM and NVS-UK. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and interrogated using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).

Results: Two superordinate themes emerged from the analysis: The importance of trust and relationship building to achieve effective communication with older adults; and the importance of tailoring education and healthcare to older adults’ individual health literacy needs and preferences.

Conclusions: The findings corroborate previous research emphasising the importance of face-to-face communication in responding to older adults’ individual health literacy needs. Building trust in the relationship and tailoring communication to older adults’ individual attributes and preferred learning styles is essential. Healthcare practitioners and managers should consider how service organisation and communication methods can enhance positive and effective relationships with patients. Improved training could support healthcare providers in meeting patients’ personal communication needs.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 30 August 2016
e-pub ahead of print date: 7 October 2016
Organisations: Faculty of Health Sciences, Professional Practice in Health Sciences

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 399925
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/399925
ISSN: 0963-8288
PURE UUID: ff9525c6-48df-4f79-9697-c12829cb9183
ORCID for Charlotte Brooks: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4461-1247
ORCID for Jo Adams: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-1765-7060

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Date deposited: 05 Sep 2016 12:35
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 05:52

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Contributors

Author: Claire Ballinger
Author: Donald Nutbeam
Author: Jo Adams ORCID iD

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