Development of a Spanish Health Literacy Assessment Tool

描述：（改编自申请书）申请人的目的是为讲西班牙语的人口开发一种健康素养评估工具。具体而言，申请人打算验证一项基于成人医学素养快速评估（REALM）开发的评估工具，该工具被认为是评估英语卫生素养的最有效和最容易管理的工具。我们称之为西班牙成人医学素养快速评估（S-REALM）的新评估工具的验证包括在北卡罗来纳大学医院门诊护理中心招募的200名讲西班牙语和200名讲英语的受试者样本中测试并将该工具与其他健康素养评估工具进行比较。

DESCRIPTION: (Adapted from the Application) The purpose of the applicant is to develop a health literacy assessment tool for the Spanish-speaking population. Specifically, the applicant is intended to validate an assessment tool to be developed based on the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM), which is known to be the most efficient and easily administered tool to assess health literacy in English. The validation of the new assessment tool, which we term the Spanish Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (S-REALM), involves testing and comparing the tool with other health literacy assessment instruments in a sample of 200 Spanish-speaking and 200 English-speaking subjects to be recruited from the Ambulatory Care Center at the University of North Carolina Hospitals. The past several years have witnessed a growing societal concern with low health literacy and its health toll. Research has shown that low health literacy may be associated with low health status and increased rates of hospitalization. Given the rapid growth of Hispanic residents in our nation, the development of a reliable and easy-to-use health literacy assessment tool in Spanish cannot be overemphasized. We anticipate that the S-REALM will take about 5 minutes to administer. Therefore, health professionals can use it in clinics and public health settings to assess the health literacy level of Spanish-speaking patients. This will enhance health professionals? ability to communicate with, and, thus, deliver better medical services, to Spanish-speaking patients. Moverover, the S-REALM can be used as a health literacy screening tool in local Hispanic communities. The result will improve our understanding of the specific health and personal needs of Hispanic residents and help policy makers, researchers, and community groups design intervention and educational programs that suit the health literacy level of this under-served population.