Improving Health Insurance Literacy Within Our Community Through the Use of Local Libraries

Author

Bonnie GreggFollow
Jenny LieuFollow

Date of Award

Spring 5-2020

Document Type

DNP Project

Project Team Faculty Member

Mary Zerlan

Project Team Faculty Member

Lisa Green

Keywords

Health Literacy, Health Insurance, Affordable Care Act, Public Libraries, Community Improvement, Resources

Abstract

Low health literacy is associated with a poorer ability to understand medical information leading to disparities among all ages. Communities play a role in supporting efforts to improve health literacy. Libraries are trusted institutes that offer an environment for all members of the community and serve as places of lifelong learning. A needs assessment approach determined a gap in knowledge regarding health literacy and insurance, specifically the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This project was an exploratory, community improvement project. Information was presented in educational sessions at two local libraries. Participants were also given an informative brochure to accompany the presentation. Surveys were administered before and after to examine the effectiveness of the presentation. The presentation was rated “good” or “excellent” by 87% of the total number of patrons. Before the presentation, only 5.13% of patrons stated that they knew most of the information, while 35.9% stated that they knew none of the information. The results of the post-survey found that 92.3% of patrons found the presentation helpful to very helpful. The postsurvey also revealed additional topics in which future projects can be created depending on the needs of the community at that time.

Recommended Citation

Gregg, Bonnie and Lieu, Jenny, "Improving Health Insurance Literacy Within Our Community Through the Use of Local Libraries" (2020). Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects. 106.
https://spark.siue.edu/dnpprojects/106

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