Adaptation Of Health Literacy In Clinical Pharmacy Curriculum – An Outcome Based Education Analysis

• By: DEVANANDAN, Praveen (St Peter's Institute Of Pharmaceutical Sciences, India)
• Co-author(s): Dr Praveen Devanandan (St Peter's Institute Of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Warangal, India)
  Dr Ranadheer Chowdary Puvvada (St Peter's Institute Of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Warangal, India)
  Dr Rajeshri Kasinath Dhurke (St Peter's Institute Of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Warangal, India)
  Mrs Manusri Naredla (St Peter's Institute Of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Warangal, India)
  Mr Jayapal Reddy Thumma (St Peter's Institute Of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Warangal, India)
  
• Abstract:

  Background: Quality patient care depends heavily on health literacy, which is now widely acknowledged as a crucial ability for all healthcare workers, including pharmacists. The objective of this research was to assess how well a health literacy course affected pharmacy students' understanding of, attitudes towards, and actions for enhancing health literacy.
  Methods: Using 60 Pharm.D Students in their IV and V years, the study was carried out utilizing a pre-post design. The health literacy course was taken by thirty students, but not by the other thirty. The Brief Assessment Questionnaire developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality was used to evaluate health literacy. During the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE), a rubric created specifically for the purpose was used to evaluate the students. In order to comprehend the students' Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices towards enhancing health literacy, a KAP survey questionnaire was also used.
  Results: The students who had taken the course had significantly higher mean scores for the OSCE session (p < .0001), knowledge (p =0.0072), attitude (p<0.0001) and practices (p<0.0001) domains compared to those who did not take the course. Improving the health literacy abilities of pharmacy students and, eventually, patient outcomes, requires integrating health literacy instruction into pharmacy curricula and evaluating the results of such courses.
  Conclusion: The findings of this study support the necessity of incorporating health literacy instruction into pharmacy curricula and demonstrate the value of such programmes in enhancing students' understanding of and behavior towards enhancing health literacy.