Saint Louis University's School of Medicine has incorporated Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's "Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit" into an "enterprising and progressively evolving" health literacy initiative to improve outcomes through increased patient engagement," according to a case study published by AHRQ.
The university's work on the initiative began in 2006 with the development of an Interprofessional Team Seminars course. Students began using elements of the AHRQ toolkit, and by the 2010-2011 academic year, these tools were fully integrated into the course.
At these monthly seminars, faculty members facilitate small groups of interprofessional students. The students are presented with complex patient cases and are asked to practice interprofessional teamwork and communication skills, in addition to patient-centered health communications. Specifically, students are challenged to apply two specific tools designed to foster clear communication and the "teach-back method."
Beginning in 2009, the deans of the School of Medicine and the Saint Louis College of Pharmacy made the seminars a requirement of each of their discipline's curricula. In addition, more than 1,200 students had enrolled in the monthly Interprofessional Team Seminars and used the toolkit's resources, as of Oct. 2011.
The university's work on the initiative began in 2006 with the development of an Interprofessional Team Seminars course. Students began using elements of the AHRQ toolkit, and by the 2010-2011 academic year, these tools were fully integrated into the course.
At these monthly seminars, faculty members facilitate small groups of interprofessional students. The students are presented with complex patient cases and are asked to practice interprofessional teamwork and communication skills, in addition to patient-centered health communications. Specifically, students are challenged to apply two specific tools designed to foster clear communication and the "teach-back method."
Beginning in 2009, the deans of the School of Medicine and the Saint Louis College of Pharmacy made the seminars a requirement of each of their discipline's curricula. In addition, more than 1,200 students had enrolled in the monthly Interprofessional Team Seminars and used the toolkit's resources, as of Oct. 2011.
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