Effective Communication and Health Literacy in a Culturally Safe Healthcare Environment

This presentation discusses the importance of effective communication and health literacy in a culturally safe healthcare environment. It highlights the main elements of effective communication, barriers to effective communication, and the Nutbeam model of health literacy. The presentation uses existing literature and health models to enhance the understanding of the concepts.

Running head: EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AND HEALTH LITERACY 1
Effective Communication and Health Literacy
Student’s Name
University Affiliation

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AND HEALTH LITERACY 2
Part 2: Rationale
Topic: The importance of effective communication and health literacy in a culturally safe
healthcare environment
Target audience: An orientation session for new staff in the workplace.
Type of interaction with the audience: During the presentation, both verbal and non-verbal
cues will be used. Specifically, tonal variation and body language will be used. In the course of
the presentation, the audience will be allowed to ask questions and offer contributions where
necessary. In addition, examples will be used to ensure the audience understands the concepts
that will be presented. The audience will also be asked to answer certain questions to make the
presentation more interactive.
The presentation will use existing literature and health models to enhance the
understanding of the concepts. The REDE model will be used to illustrate the elements of
effective communication. Further, the cultural practice program for the Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander will be used to discuss the importance of effective communication in a culturally
safe environment. Nutbeam model of health literacy will be illustrated in the presentation and
importance of health literacy in the culturally safe environment will be discussed.
Effective communication is the process of sharing thoughts, information and feeling
among individuals through speech, writing or body language. The presentation highlights the
main elements of effective communication. Effective communication assists vulnerable patients
to understand and make appropriate decisions about their treatment and care (Bramhall, 2014).
Nevertheless, effective communication requires pertinent interpersonal skills, self-awareness,
and awareness of others. In the past, communication has been viewed as a tool for healthcare

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AND HEALTH LITERACY 3
providers alone. Patients and healthcare providers should understand and develop effective
communication skills to facilitate and enhance the quality of healthcare. Further, the presentation
discusses the barriers to effective communication in healthcare settings. Based on this view,
patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals should overcome the barriers to effective
communication. For patients and carers, the barriers to effective communication are the lack of
privacy, being weak, difficulty explaining feelings and blockage of communication cues by
healthcare providers (Neese, 2015). On the other hand, the blocks to effective communication for
medical professionals are inadequate time, high workload, lack of support, emotion barriers and
distress (Bramhall, 2014). The patients and nurses should always adhere to the principles of
effective communication. Communication is perceived as a transaction as well as message
creation. The process of communication should ensure patient satisfaction and protect the health
professional (Frenkel & Cohen, 2014). Both the nurse and patient should understand that
communication is unidirectional meaning that any of these parties can initiate the communication
process. The use of certain technical terms might block the communication process because the
patient can misinterpret technical terms (Kourkouta & Papathanasiou, 2014).
The REDE model can be used to achieve effective communication in a healthcare setting.
Primarily, the REDE model promotes relationship-centred communication to improve the quality
of care. This model optimises personal connections is several stages of relationship including
establishment, development, and engagement (Windover, Boissy, Rice, Gilligan, Velez, &
Merlino, 2014). The presentation discusses these elements of REDE model.
Establishing a relationship

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AND HEALTH LITERACY 4
This stage proposes the creation of an enabling and supportive environment where there
are collaboration and trust. Healthcare professionals should focus on building an emotional bank
with their patients and carers. Respect should be promoted in this phase because it is the first
encounter. Healthcare professionals should set the design of care collaboratively even though it
might be time-consuming. They should also introduce electronic health record to enhance patient
care. Lastly, the provider should demonstrate empathy, which is the capacity to acknowledge and
understand the situation of others (Windover, Boissy, Rice, Gilligan, Velez, & Merlino, 2014).
Developing the relationship
After the initial step, the relationship continues evolving and growing. Healthcare
professionals should attempt to know the patient and understand their critical signs in a
biopsychosocial context. They should listen reflectively as the patient narrates their feelings and
thoughts. In this case, the nurse should attempt to obtain the history of present illness (HPI). The
importance of provider-patient communication has been extensively documented in the recent
literature (Cheng, Bridges, Yiu, & McGrath, 2015).
Engaging the relationship
The main elements of this stage are patient education and treatment. As the healthcare
professional continues to offer treatment, they should also enhance the patient’s knowledge.
Education aims to obtain consent, enhance patient self-efficacy, treatment adherence and self-
care of chronic health conditions (Windover, Boissy, Rice, Gilligan, Velez, & Merlino, 2014).
The healthcare professional should share the diagnosis with the patient, involve the patient in
designing a treatment plan, and dialogue throughout the process of delivering care.

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AND HEALTH LITERACY 5
The presentation will further discuss the meaning of effective communication and its
significance in healthcare. Effective communication in a culturally safe environment is very
important. Recent studies have found that good communication improves patient’s emotional
health as well as symptoms resolution (Leonard, 2017). In addition, effective communication
enhances several physiological measures including like blood pressure and reduces reported
pain. Effective communication increases the chances of developing a mutually positive and
advantageous relationship between the healthcare provider and the patient. Additionally,
effective communication increases the level of confidence and self-empowerment for the patient
because they understand their diagnosis and treatment. In most instances, communication
reduces the issues of misunderstanding and errors linked to diagnosis, treatment and medication
administration. The cases of medication non-adherence can also be reduced through good
communication. Communication further improves the level of respect and reputation between the
nurse and the patient (Cultural.org, 2012).
Health literacy can be perceived as the capacity to access, comprehend, analyse and
convey information as a way to enhance, sustain and promote health in various settings
(Medibankhealth, 2018). The presentation discusses how health literacy is defined in Australia
and its association with healthcare delivery. In Australia, health literacy is defined as the skills
and knowledge needed to comprehend and apply information associated with health issues like
disease prevention and management, drugs and alcohol, accident prevention, and first aid. Health
literacy can also be viewed as the ability to understand and use health information to improve the
delivery of healthcare and make suitable health decisions (Lambert, et al., 2014). Low level of
health literacy often occurs in vulnerable communities and it is associated with socially
disadvantaged populations. Poverty and low education attainment are important predictors’ of

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AND HEALTH LITERACY 6
health literacy level. Traditionally, health literacy concentrated on health care services and had a
finite concentration on the capacity to address words and numbers in medical contexts. Over the
last few years, the idea of health literacy has evolved significantly to include the aspects of
reading and acting on written health information (Van den Broucke, 2014). Health literacy is an
important determinant of public health and determines the outcomes of patients across different
healthcare settings. Low health literacy is not only an issue of the minorities because it even
exists in the majority populations.
The presentation discusses the Nutbeam model of health literacy. The Nutbeam’s model
of health literacy consists of three levels including functional literacy, interactive health literacy,
and critical health literacy (Nutbeam, 2015). Functional literacy is the capacity to use common
literacy skills to address issues associated with health such as reading medication labels. This
kind of literacy is applied mainly in clinical settings where information is conveyed to patients.
In case a patient has poor functional health literacy skills, they might be unable to read
prescription and written materials. On the other hand, interactive literacy emphasizes the
development of cognitive skills as well as the capacity to operate in social environments
(Mitchell & Begoray, 2014). Interactive literacy depends on a sturdy foundation of the first level,
which is functional health literacy. At this level, patients develop the ability to analyze message
effectively and interact with others in the environment. Critical literacy depends on the other
level of health literacy including functional and interactive literacy. Individuals who are at this
level of health literacy can facilitate community development. Besides, persons at this level of
health literacy can analyse health problems, determine the challenges and benefits of each aspect.
The presentation will highlight the benefits of health literacy. Health literacy is essential
in a culturally safe environment due to various factors. Undeniably, low health literacy is linked

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AND HEALTH LITERACY 7
to poor health knowledge, poor health status, high mortality, high rates of hospitalisation and
high costs of care. Nutbeam model insinuates that health literacy can act as a strategy for
empowerment. Based on the model, health literacy allows an individual to seek, access and
analyse health information (Lowell, Schmitt, Ah Chin, & Connors, 2014). Health literacy
enhances the appropriate use of medication and subsequent outcomes. Patients with high health
literacy can use medication appropriately, which improves the outcome of their symptoms
(Fincham, 2013). Additionally, health literacy increases the involvement of patients in medical
decision-making. High order competence is positively associated with greater involvement in
making decisions about medications (Brabers, Rademakers, Groenewegen, van Dijk, & de Jong,
2017). Health literacy is even important for patients diagnosed with chronic health conditions.
Health literacy allows patents’ diagnosed with chronic health conditions to access information,
and apply appropriate skills to manage their condition (Poureslami, Nimmon, Rootman, &
Fitzgerald, 2016). In a culturally safe environment, health literacy allows the nurses to apply
promote health based on the culture. The healthcare providers can address the needs of
consumers in culturally diverse populations. Furthermore, health literacy integrates with
effective communication to ensure the needs of the health consumers are met effectively.
Word count: Rationale – 1500
Presentation – 250
Total - 1750

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AND HEALTH LITERACY 8
References
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