Health literacy consultation tips

Beginning the consultation^5-8

1. Establish why the patient has requested this call or if you have chosen to call the patient, tell them your reason for the call, what you hope to cover and how long it will take.
   Check in with the patient to see if there’s anything else they would like to cover on the call

2. Establish the goal of the patient during this consultation, e.g. repeat prescription, new medicine service (NMS) or advice on self-isolation/Covid-19

3. In light of Covid-19, check for high-risk status upfront as this may change some advice given, e.g. picking up prescriptions or healthy living advice

4. For consultation calls take a brief history

5. Continually listen and/or look for cues as to both the patient’s emotional status and their health literacy. Do they sound upset, angry? Are they able to discuss their condition fluently or do they struggle with medically based language? These are great cues for you to tailor your consultation

6. Establish if they suffer from dementia or any condition where they might benefit from another person such as a family member or care giver being included on the call. Bear in mind the rules for self-isolation and remember not to suggest anyone who isn’t already cleared to come in the home

During the consultation – using teach-back^5-8

Numerous studies have examined the benefits of using the teach-back technique to help improve a patient’s health literacy. It is a method of checking patient understanding by asking patients to state in their own words what they need to know or do regarding their own health.

It is a useful method to confirm that you have explained things clearly or establish if you need to explain them again. Additionally, it allows the patient to be in control of their own health, as they are fully educated on how to take their medication and what lifestyle changes they may need to adopt. Teach-back has been examined on telephone consultations and has been found to be a useful tool when normal facial cues are absent.

1. During the consultation it is best to split information up into smaller sections and then ask a teach-back style question after each event

2. Remember to use plain language. A patient with low health literacy can be difficult to identify and this can be even harder to establish over the telephone