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Syllabus

GPH 728 Health Literacy – Spring B 2016

Credits - 3

Description

This course introduces you to health literacy and plain language both theoretically and practically. Early course weeks introduce you to the topic, followed by hands-on experience in evaluating and then creating clear health communication.

Course Format:
This course will be delivered through a web-based format and is designed for completion online. Within each of the eight modules, there are reading assignments, web-based projects, written assignments, and discussion questions or case studies. The weekly modules will be made available by 12:01 AM on Wednesdays.

Materials

Osborne H. Health Literacy From A to Z: Practical Ways to Communicate Your Health Message. Second Edition. Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers; 2013. ISBN: 978-14496-0053-2

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

  1. Evaluate the population demographic and socioeconomic factors that affect health literacy as well as health care system interactions between providers and patients
  2. Apply an understanding of health literacy and plain language to utilize salient health communication principles and techniques to explain the implications of their misuse on patient and health system outcomes
  3. Analyze relevant national public health policies, programs, and interventions implemented to improve health literacy, patient, and health system outcomes
  4. Assess the ethical principles involved in health care and health education when conducting patient- and population-level health literacy activities

Assignments

Final Project: Training Workshop

The purpose of this course is to introduce you to health literacy and plain language both from a theoretical and practical perspective. The final project for this course will combine what you have learned about the need for and significance of health literacy. You will be able to apply these key learnings to a practice based project. The project will simulate a “real-world” deliverable for a practitioner of Public Health working in a  health care system. Information from all modules will build cohesively to a comprehensive final project. For your final project you will be crafting a Training Workshop for patient care staff at a metropolitan hospital.

In Modules 2 and 4 you will complete sections of the final project. In Module 2 you will choose the key areas of concern which will become the focus of your final project. In Module 4 you will develop a small group exercise that will allow the participants of your training workshop to demonstrate clear health communication principles; or health literacy methods they would use directly with patients. 

Discussion Forum

Each student is expected to post at least twice each week. One post should be an original contribution to the discussion. A second or sequential post should be in response to a classmate’s post. Initial discussion posts must be submitted by Sunday at 11:59 pm ET. For most weeks, that means you must have completed the reading by this time. At least one response post must be completed by Wednesday at 11:59 pm ET of the week the question is assigned.

 

Grading Policy

Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:

Grade Breakdown

Discussion Boards 8 at 3 points each = 24
Module 3 Assignment15
Module 5 Assignment15
Final Project Part 1: Key Areas of Concern5
Final Project Part 2: Small Group Exercise10
Final Project: Submission31
Total Points100

Grade Scale

Grade Points Grade Point Average (GPA)
A 94 – 100% 4.00
A- 90 – 93% 3.75
B+ 87 – 89% 3.50
B 84 – 86% 3.00
B- 80 – 83% 2.75
C+ 77 – 79% 2.50
C 74 – 76% 2.00
C- 70 – 73% 1.75
D 64 – 69% 1.00
F 00 – 63% 0.00

Schedule

Course Weeks

  • Module 1: March 2 – March 9
  • Module 2: March 9 – March 16
  • Module 3: March 16 – March 23
  • Module 4: March 23 – March 30
  • Module 5: March 30 – April 6
  • Module 6: April 6 – April 13
  • Module 7: April 13– April 20
  • Module 8: April 20 – April 24 (Sunday)

Course Schedule

Module 1: Understanding the Problem from a Health Care System Perspective

Learning Objectives:

  • Examine various demographic and socioeconomic factors for U.S. patient populations
  • Review how demographic and socioeconomic factors impact patient health care system interactions

Readings:

Lecture: 

Assignments:

  • Discussion: Introductions and health literacy background.
  • Quiz (not graded): This quiz is to gauge your general understanding of modern health systems and patient/provider interactions. 

Module 2: What is Health Literacy?

Learning Outcomes: 

  • Develop a working definition of health literacy to recognize the barriers faced by patients with low health literacy. 
  • Identify the effects associated with low health literacy to be able to employ best strategies and practices.
  • Examine various public health stakeholders for their connection to health literacy. 

Readings:

  • Final Project Document
  • Osborne Textbook: Health Literacy from A to Z
    • Chapter 1 – About Health Literacy
    • Chapter 2 – Assessing Health Literacy
    • Chapter 5 – Communicating When Patients Feel Scared, Sick, and Overwhelmed
  • Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion
    • Chapter 2 – What is Health Literacy
    • Chapter 5 – The Extent and Associations of Limited Health Literacy

Lecture: 

Assignments: 

  • Discussion: Effects of poor health literacy on patients and health care system overall.
  • Final Project Part 1: Key Areas of Concern – This week you will review the scenario (provided in the Final Project Document) and decide on the key areas of concern  on which you will focus for your final project. Explain why the 2 key areas of concern you have chosen are important in the field of health literacy? Include your working definition of health literacy as you would for your training participants. Make sure to reference the course readings to support your claims. Refer to the Module prompt for a full description of the assignment requirements. 

Module 3: National Efforts to Improve Health Literacy

Learning Outcomes: 

  • Explain how various national campaigns and policies have tried to improve health literacy. 
  • Examine relevant best practices and evidence-based interventions to improve health literacy. 

Readings: 

Lecture: 

Assignments: 

  • Discussion: How are particular campaigns or policies driving improvements to health literacy?
  • Assignment: Choose one national health literacy campaign or policy from the readings this week and in 750 words or less discuss its strengths in terms of its implementation.

Module 4: Patient-Level Efforts to Improve Health Literacy

Learning Outcomes: 

  • Assess various health communication principles and evidence-based strategies that are used to improve health literacy.
  • Design an interactive exercise that allows patient care staff to demonstrate appropriate principles or methods to be utilized with patients.

Readings: 

Lecture: 

Assignments:

  • Discussion: Utilize the Readability Test Tool to assess the readability of the patient information provided. 
  • Final Project Part 2: Small Group Exercise – Develop a small group exercise for use in your Final Project. Refer to the module prompt for a full description of the assignment requirements. 

Module 5: Culture, Health, and Literacy 

Learning Outcomes:

  • Analyze various patient and provider cultural perspectives to understand the impact on health literacy.
  • Analyze various patient and provider linguistic differences to understand the impact on health literacy.

Readings: 

  • Osborne Textbook: Health Literacy from A to Z
    • Chapter 15 – Interpreters and Translations
    • Chapter 18 – Know Your Audience: Culture and Language
    • Chapter 29 – Question Asking
  • Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion
    • Chapter 4 – Culture and Society

Lecture:

Assignments:

  • Discussion: Consider how you would link an organizational culture of respect to health literacy and improve health literacy for various patient populations. How does promoting cultural respect benefit patient, providers, and the health care system overall? Use the readings from this week to support your ideas. 
  • Module 5 Assignment: For this assignment you will be assessing the provided health education material distributed to male and female patients at a small rural hospital in the Northeast. Please review the assignment prompt in the module for more information. 

Module 6: The Ethics of Health Literacy

Learning Outcomes

  • Identify the key ethical principles involved in health care practice and health education to benefit patients and improve health literacy.
  • Examine the ethical implications of public health approaches to promote health literacy and the implications of their misuse. 

Readings:

Lecture: 

Assignments:

  • Discussion: View the provided skit and consider the ethical dimensions of the dilemma portrayed. 
  • Final Project Reminder: Next week your final project is due. This week is lighter to provide you with time to work on this project. Please review the Final Project: Training Workshop document for a full description of the requirements.

Module 7: Writing in Plain Language

Learning Outcomes:

  • Identify how to use plain language effectively to communicate with various audiences and examine the public health benefits to these approaches.
  • Create a training workshop that addresses key areas of concern regarding health literacy to educate other health care providers. 

Readings: 

  • Osborne Textbook: Health Literacy from A to Z
    • Chapter 9 – Document Design
    • Chapter 12 – Forms and Others Reading-to-Do Documents
    • Chapter 16 – Jargon, Acronyms, and Other Troublesome Words
    • Chapter 25 – Metaphors, Similes, and Analogies
    • Chapter 26 – Numeracy
    • Chapter 28 – Plain Language
  • National Institutes of Health

Lecture: 

Assignments:

  • Discussion: For this discussion examine the provided before and after graphic and analyze using what you have learned throughout the course.
  • Final Project Submission: Your final project is due this week. Make sure to review the Final Project: Training Workshop document for a full description of the assignment requirements. 

Module 8: The Impact

Learning Outcomes

  • Reflect on the impact of improved health literacy from a public health perspective.

Readings:

Lecture:

Assignments:

  • Discussion: Analyze one of the provided case studies. Comment on the specific health literacy problem that was addressed, strategies and methods used to resolve the problem, and the improvements noted. 

 

Student Resources

Online Student Support

Your Student Support Specialist is a resource for you. Please don't hesitate to contact them for assistance, including, but not limited to course planning, current problems or issues in a course, technology concerns, or personal emergencies.

Questions? Visit the Student Support Public Health page

UNE Libraries:

UNE Student Academic Success Center

UNE's Student Academic Success Center (SASC) offers a range of free online services to support your academic achievement. Writing support, ESOL support, study strategy and learning style consultations, as well as downloadable resources, are available to all matriculating students. The SASC also offers tutoring for GPH 712 Epidemiology, GPH 716 Biostatistics, GPH 717 Applied Epidemiology, GPH 718 Biostatistics II, and GPH 719 Research Methods. To make an appointment for any of these services, go to une.tutortrac.com. For more information and to view and download writing and studying resources, please visit:

Information Technology Services (ITS)

  • ITS Contact: Toll Free Help Desk 24 hours/7 days per week at 1-877-518-4673

Accommodations

Any student who would like to request, or ask any questions regarding, academic adjustments or accommodations must contact the Student Access Center at (207) 221-4438 or pcstudentaccess@une.edu. Student Access Center staff will evaluate the student's documentation and determine eligibility of accommodation(s) through the Student Access Center registration procedure.

Online Peer Support

Togetherall is a 24/7 communication and emotional support platform monitored by trained clinicians. It’s a safe place online to get things off your chest, have conversations, express yourself creatively, and learn how to manage your mental health. If sharing isn’t your thing, Togetherall has other tools and courses to help you look after yourself with plenty of resources to explore. Whether you’re struggling to cope, feeling low, or just need a place to talk, Togetherall can help you explore your feelings in a safe supportive environment. You can join Togetherall using your UNE email address.

Information Technology Services (ITS)

Students should notify their Student Support Specialist and instructor in the event of a problem relating to a course. This notification should occur promptly and proactively to support timely resolution.

ITS Contact: Toll-Free Help Desk 24 hours/7 days per week at 1-877-518-4673.

Career Ready Program

The College of Professional Studies supports its online students and alumni in their career journey!

The Career Ready Program provides tools and resources to help students explore and hone in on their career goals, search for jobs, create and improve professional documents, build professional network, learn interview skills, grow as a professional, and more. Come back often, at any time, as you move through your journey from career readiness as a student to career growth, satisfaction, and success as alumni.

Policies

AMA Writing Style Statement

The American Medical Association Manual (AMA) of Style, 11th edition is the required writing format for this course. Additional support for academic writing and AMA format is provided throughout the coursework as well as at the UNE Portal for Online Students.

Online resources: AMA Style Guide

Turnitin Originality Check and Plagiarism Detection Tool

The College of Professional Studies uses Turnitin to help deter plagiarism and to foster the proper attribution of sources. Turnitin provides comparative reports for submitted assignments that reflect similarities in other written works. This can include, but is not limited to, previously submitted assignments, internet articles, research journals, and academic databases.

Make sure to cite your sources appropriately as well as use your own words in synthesizing information from published literature. Webinars and workshops, included early in your coursework, will help guide best practices in APA citation and academic writing.

You can learn more about Turnitin in the guide on how to navigate your Similarity Report.

Technology Requirements

Please review the technical requirements for UNE Online Graduate Programs: Technical Requirements

Course Evaluation Policy

Course surveys are one of the most important tools that University of New England uses for evaluating the quality of your education, and for providing meaningful feedback to instructors on their teaching. In order to assure that the feedback is both comprehensive and precise, we need to receive it from each student for each course. Evaluation access is distributed via UNE email at the beginning of the last week of the course.

Late Policy

Students are responsible for submitting work by the date indicated in Brightspace.

Quizzes and Tests: Quizzes and tests must be completed by the due date. They will not be accepted after the due date.

Assignments: Unless otherwise specified, assignments will be accepted up to 3 days late; however, there is a 10% grade reduction (from the total points) for the late submission. After three days the assignment will not be accepted.

Discussion posts: If the initial post is submitted late, but still within the discussion board week, there will be a 10% grade reduction from the total discussion grade (e.g., a 3 point discussion will be reduced by 0.3 points). Any posts submitted after the end of the Discussion Board week will not be graded.

Please make every effort ahead of time to contact your instructor and your student support specialist if you are not able to meet an assignment deadline. Arrangements for extenuating circumstances may be considered by faculty.

Student Handbook Online - Policies and Procedures

The policies contained within this document apply to all students in the College of Graduate and Professional Studies. It is each student's responsibility to know the contents of this handbook.

Student Handbook

UNE Course Withdrawal

Please contact your student support specialist if you are considering dropping or withdrawing from a course. The last day to drop for 100% tuition refund is the 2nd day of the course. Financial Aid charges may still apply. Students using Financial Aid should contact the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing from a course.

Academic Integrity

The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable. For information about plagiarism and academic misconduct, please visit https://www.une.edu/studentlife/plagiarism.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:

  1. Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
  2. Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
  3. Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
  4. Multiple submissions of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
  5. Plagiarism, the appropriation of records, research, materials, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own.

Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations.  Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final.  Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.

Attendance Policy

8 week: Students taking online graduate courses through the College of Professional Studies will be administratively dropped for non-participation if a graded assignment/discussion post is not submitted before Sunday at 11:59 pm ET of the first week of the term. Reinstatement is at the purview of the Dean's Office.

16 week: Students taking online graduate courses through the College of Professional Studies will be administratively dropped for non-participation if a graded assignment/discussion post is not submitted before Friday at 11:59 pm ET of the second week of the term. Reinstatement is at the purview of the Dean's Office.

Student Handbook Online - Policies and Procedures

The policies contained within this document apply to all students in the College of Professional Studies. It is each student's responsibility to know the contents of this handbook.

UNE Online Student Handbook

UNE Course Withdrawal

Please contact your student support specialist if you are considering dropping or withdrawing from a course. The last day to drop for 100% tuition refund is the 2nd day of the course. Financial Aid charges may still apply. Students using Financial Aid should contact the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing from a course.

Academic Integrity

The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable. For information about plagiarism and academic misconduct, please visit UNE Plagiarism Policies.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:

  1. Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
  2. Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
  3. Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
  4. Multiple submissions of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
  5. Plagiarism, the appropriation of records, research, materials, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own.

Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations. Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final. Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.