Rhonda Garad PhD candidate, MPH, RN Div1, Naturopath

Rhonda Garad
PhD candidate, MPH,
RN Div1, Naturopath
Independent health organisation
Women play a central role in health
• “Women make around 80% of health
care decisions…”
• “Women are the key consumers and
disseminators of health information.”
• “Targeting the health literacy of women
has flow on effects to the wider
community.”
Three year philanthropic funding
Research
‘The
Collie
Health
Literacy
Project’
Managed by ANZ
trustees
Resource Development
Capacity Building
Collie project
Aim: To optimise health equity for CaLD communities
across Victoria.
Objectives:
•To explore the health literacy needs of CaLD
communities through the lived experience.
•To build the health literacy capacity of CaLD focused
organisations and individuals.
•To test a mechanism for assessing health literacy in
CaLD communities.
•To identify health literacy responses for this cohort.
‘The Collie
Health Literacy
Project’
Research
Add to the evidence
base of effective health
literacy approaches in
CaLD communities.
‘The Collie
Health Literacy
Project’
Pic of the inTouch
resource development
workshop
Partnership
Resource
Resource
Development
Development
Needs assessment of specific health
information needs and
environmental analysis of gaps in
current educational resources
Co-development of resources
drawing from respective
organisational expertise
Comprehensive dissemination plan
development
‘The Collie
Health Literacy
Project’
Capacity
Resource
Development
Building
Pic of Rhonda TBA
Needs assessment of specific
health literacy and health
information needs of health
organisations
Delivery of a series of healthrelated workshops to tutors,
community leaders, bilingual
health workers, case workers
across 3 Victorian organisations;
• Direct education to consumers
.
What is health literacy?
“An individuals overall capacity to obtain, process and understand basic
health information and services needed to make appropriate health
decisions”
(US Institute of Medicine, 2004)
“Health literacy represents the cognitive and social skills which determine
the motivation and ability of individuals to gain access to, understand and use
information in ways which promote and maintain good health”
(World Health Organization, 1998)
“An individual’s possession of requisite skills for making health-related
decisions, which means that health literacy must always be examined in the
context of the specific tasks that need to be accomplished. The
importance of a contextual appreciation of health literacy must be
underscored”
(Paasche-Orlow & Wolf, 2006)
Determinants of low health literacy
•Migrants and refugee populations found to have lower levels of health literacy
(74% non-English speaking) than general Australian population (59%).
•Disproportionally affected by a range of health issues – migrant health decline.
Health literacy in this population impacted by multiple factors;
•language barriers
•lack of familiarity with the health care system
•past health experiences in country of origin
•reduced access to culturally appropriate health care services/information
•socioeconomic barriers
•alternate ways of learning
•religious and cultural values
•beliefs about health and illness
•patterns of communications –dispersed decision making
Measurement of health literacy in migrant groups
Current measures of health literacy do not meet the needs of CaLD
groups.
Weaknesses include;
•lack cultural sensitivity and exhibit bias toward certain population groups.
•differential item functioning (DIF)-Persons with the same ability have
different probabilities to providing a correct response.
•cultural background, English language proficiency, familiarity with
western medical health system, shared conceptual understanding of biomedical approach.
•Do not differentiate barriers and enablers
•Therefore do not assist in providing targeted solutions
Study aim
• To explore the factors that support and inhibit
those from migrant and refugee groups in Australia,
to gain access to, understand, appraise and apply
health information to take decisions in everyday life
concerning healthcare, disease management and
health promotion.
Significance
• This study will generate new knowledge on the
unique health beliefs and health literacy barriers
and enablers of CaLD groups.
• Has the potential to impact health practitioner and
service level responses to low health literacy in CaLD
groups.
• Will identify targeted interventions with the
potential to improve health outcomes and equity.
Study overview
This study is a multi-phase, mixed method project. It is guided
by a Grounded Theory (GT) methodological approach and
is comprised of four phases.
Sampling frame
Participants (n=240) drawn from three CaLD communities
• Chinese
• Indian
• Somali
Methods
Phase 1: Health conceptualisations across three distinct migrant
and refugee groups
Phase 2: Evaluation of the HLQ
in meeting the health literacy
needs of migrant and refugee
communities
Phase 3: Health literacy needs
and strengths of three distinct
migrant and refugee
communities in Australia
Phase 4: Feedback and response identification workshops
Achievements year one
• A significant number of enduring partnerships
formed
• Over 20 workshops held with health workers
• 40 sessions held with consumers (strong
knowledge and impact evaluation indicators)
• Phase 1 of the research arm completed
• A range of resources developed, freely
available for use