Improving Health Literacy Responsiveness: A Randomized Study on the Uptake of Brochures on Doctor-Patient Communication in Primary Health Care Waiting Rooms

Carel J. M. Jansen, Ruth Koops van ’t Jagt, Sijmen A. Reijneveld, Ellen van Leeuwen, Andrea F. de Winter and John C. J. Hoeks
Additional contact information
Carel J. M. Jansen: Department of Communication and Information Sciences, Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 7600, 9700 AS Groningen, The Netherlands
Ruth Koops van ’t Jagt: Department of Communication and Information Sciences, Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 7600, 9700 AS Groningen, The Netherlands
Sijmen A. Reijneveld: Department of Health Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 30.001, 9700 RB Groningen, The Netherlands
Ellen van Leeuwen: Department of Communication and Information Sciences, Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 7600, 9700 AS Groningen, The Netherlands
Andrea F. de Winter: Department of Health Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 30.001, 9700 RB Groningen, The Netherlands
John C. J. Hoeks: Department of Communication and Information Sciences, Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 7600, 9700 AS Groningen, The Netherlands

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 9, 1-17

Abstract: Presenting attractive and useful health education materials in waiting rooms can help improve an organization’s health literacy responsiveness. However, it is unclear to what extent patients may be interested in health education materials, such as brochures. We conducted a three-week field study in waiting rooms of three primary care centers in Groningen. Three versions of a brochure on doctor-patient communication were randomly distributed, 2250 in total. One version contained six short photo stories, another version was non-narrative but contained comparable photos, and the third version was a traditional brochure. Each day we counted how many brochures were taken. We also asked patients ( N = 471) to participate in a brief interview. Patients who consented ( N = 390) were asked if they had noticed the brochure. If yes ( N = 135), they were asked why they had or had not browsed the brochure, and why they had or had not taken it. Interview responses were categorized by two authors. Only 2.9% of the brochures were taken; no significant association with brochure version was found. Analysis of the interview data showed that the version with the photo narrative was noticed significantly more often than the non-narrative version or the traditional version. These results suggest that designing attractive and comprehensible health materials is not enough. Healthcare organizations should also create effective strategies to reach their target population.

Keywords: health literacy responsiveness; organizational health literacy; health literacy; health information; health communication; waiting room; doctor-patient communication; photo story; fotonovela; narrative health communication (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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