There can be a substantial gap between the literacy and numeracy required to manage HIV, and PLWHA’s education and skills. In Baltimore, I am piloting three HIV medication adherence support tools appropriate for most literacy levels. These are (1) a graphic presentation on why HIV medicine should be taken on time every day, (2) an HIV-medication-specific pill card adapted from the AHRQ Health Literacy Toolkit, and (3) a CD4/viral load chart that PLWHAs can use to monitor the results of their adherence. As a second health literacy initiative, I will present the concept of multi-media education programs (MMEPs) as an effective way to communicate key health messages, and will discuss storyboards for an HIV MMEP that is under development. Both of these initiatives are being conducted as part of a National Quality Center Fellowship.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will be provided with three HIV-specific medication adherence support tools. The educational piece has several variations (Spanish language, adapted for young pregnant HIV-positive women) and can be further modified for use with various populations. Participants will form small groups and role play administering one of the tools, followed by a discussion of how each tool might be incorporated into adherence counseling at their agencies.
- Participants will learn about the efficacy of a pilot of the adherence support tools, as we present the results of a quality improvement cycle (PDSA or plan/do/study/act). Participants will have the opportunity to question staff from the agency that conducted the PDSA cycle. Lessons learned will be presented from two less successful attempts to integrate the tools into agency practice.
- Participants will be exposed to three brief multi-media education programs (MMEPs) and asked to assess their effectiveness as educational tools. The topic of two of the MMEPs is HIV, and the third is an award-winning MMEP on diabetes. Participants will then be asked to comment on storyboards for a new HIV MMEP that is under development.
