Improving Organizational Health Literacy Responsiveness in Cardiac Rehabilitation Using A Co-Design Methodology: Results from The Heart Skills Study

Anna Aaby, Camilla Bakkær Simonsen, Knud Ryom and Helle Terkildsen Maindal
Additional contact information
Anna Aaby: Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, Bartholins Allé 2, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
Camilla Bakkær Simonsen: Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, Bartholins Allé 2, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
Knud Ryom: Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, Bartholins Allé 2, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
Helle Terkildsen Maindal: Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, Bartholins Allé 2, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 3, 1-18

Abstract: For health services, improving organizational health literacy responsiveness is a promising approach to enhance health and counter health inequity. A number of frameworks and tools are available to help organizations boost their health literacy responsiveness. These include the Ophelia (OPtimising HEalth LIteracy and Access) approach centered on local needs assessments, co-design methodologies, and pragmatic intervention testing. Within a municipal cardiac rehabilitation (CR) setting, the Heart Skills Study aimed to: (1) Develop and test an organizational health literacy intervention using an extended version of the Ophelia approach, and (2) evaluate the organizational impact of the application of the Ophelia approach. We found the approach successful in producing feasible organizational quality improvement interventions that responded to local health literacy needs such as enhanced social support and individualized care. Furthermore, applying the Ophelia approach had a substantial organizational impact. The co-design process in the unit helped develop and integrate a new and holistic understanding of CR user needs and vulnerabilities based on health literacy. It also generated motivation and ownership among CR users, staff, and leaders, paving the way for sustainable future implementation. The findings can be used to inform the development and evaluation of sustainable co-designed health literacy initiatives in other settings.

Keywords: health literacy; organizational health literacy; cardiac rehabilitation; intervention development; co-design; needs assessment; equity in health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/3/1015/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/3/1015/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:3:p:1015-:d:317021

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().