Abstract:
Heart failure (HF) is considered one of the costliest health epidemics in the U.S. Research has shown that there is a direct correlation between health literacy, HF knowledge and overall health outcomes. Approximately one in three Medicare patients have low health literacy. The population chosen for this project were enrolled in a program called, PACE (program of all-inclusive care of the elderly). The program supports frail Medicare and Medicaid patients living independently in the community.
The objective of this project was to evaluate the effectiveness of providing individuals with low health literacy infographics to help improve their self-efficacy and management of their HF. Instruments used included the Self-Efficacy for Managing Chronic Disease (SEMCD) 6-item Scale and UR What U Eat. The latter tool is a color-coded infographic depicting sodium content in food using green for ‘go’, or little to no sodium content, yellow for ‘slow’, or low to medium sodium content and red for ‘whoa, which indicates that the food is very high in sodium.
This pilot project used an experimental design which involved a pre and post self-efficacy evaluation survey, weekly weight tracking and weekly coaching. Data were analyzed using a paired sample t-test. Results suggest that providing nutritional infographics to participants and weekly weight monitoring led to a significant improvement in their self-efficacy and ability to manage their heart failure. Increasing self-efficacy can lead to improved health outcomes, patient satisfaction and a reduction in hospital admissions.
