Patients with limited health literacy often have poorer health outcomes, and struggle in their self-management and communication with healthcare professionals. At the same time, healthcare professionals do not always succeed in adequately supporting this patient group. Marco Boonstra, a PhD candidate in the Department of Health Sciences at UMCG, developed and tested an intervention to address these challenges. This intervention targets kidney patients with reduced health literacy and professionals in general practices and hospitals.
Before the start of this research project, there were no interventions that supported both kidney patients and healthcare professionals. The first step was therefore to investigate the barriers they encountered. Patients reported that they found it difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle and to discuss problems with healthcare providers. They were also not always aware of their kidney condition and what could be done to protect their kidneys. Professionals indicated that they lacked communication strategies to help these patients in their self-management. Derived from these barriers, the researchers developed "Grip on Your Kidneys." This intervention includes, among other things, animations and a consultation card for patients to improve lifestyle and consultations. Healthcare providers received training on communication with patients with reduced health literacy.
Follow-up studies showed that the intervention was effective and cost-effective. In the intervention group, the percentage of patients with hypertension decreased, and the quality of consultations improved. Further analyses indicated that the intervention, when implemented in the Netherlands, might be cost-saving and could delay or prevent intensive dialysis treatments. This demonstrates that an integrated approach, focusing on both patients and healthcare professionals, is promising for improving the health of patients with reduced health literacy.
