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This version of NSU News has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of NSU News, visit news.nova.edu.
This version of SharkBytes has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of SharkBytes, visit sharkbytes.nova.edu.
NSU Receives $1.35 Million Federal Grant to Improve Patients’ Health Literacy, Helping Them Receive Better Care
FT. LAUDERDALE-DAVIE Fla. —- Nova Southeastern University’s (NSU) medical school, the College of Osteopathic Medicine, recently received a $1.35-million federal grant to create innovative methods to evaluate patients’ health literacy.
Health literacy is the ability to get and use information in order to receive the best possible care.
The grant, awarded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, was given to the medical school’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine to develop a new measure of health literacy. Raymond L. Ownby, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., the department’s chair, is the principal investigator of the grant.
Research has shown that as many as half of all patients may not have the basic skills to understand their health care. Low health literacy has been linked to poor health and is especially problematic among Hispanics, African-Americans and the elderly.
NSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine (COM) will use the grant to develop better assessment methods, which is the first step to creating new ways to help patients understand their health care and become more active participants in their care.
COM’s health literacy measure will be administered to participants on touch-screen computers, allowing doctors to better understand how to communicate with their patients. The measure will include questions about reading and video simulations of patients interacting with doctors. The 4-year study is being conducted in both Spanish and English to help ensure that it will be useful to most patients.
In the future, it can be used in doctors’ offices to find out the best ways to give patients information about their medical care. Other studies have shown that information tailored to the needs of individual patients is more helpful to them. The new measure will be an important first step in developing computer-based applications that can improve doctors’ ability to care for their patients.
Media Contact:
Ken Ma, NSU Office of Public Affairs
954-262-5408 (office), 954-830-4177 (cell), ken.ma@nova.edu