Patient literacy and its influence on health outcomes

Patient literacy and its influence on health outcomes

Unit 5 discussion

Description of the research process

The following steps were followed in the research process:

1. Topic identification.
2. Finding background information.
3. Using the internet to backup background information.
4. Evaluation of the findings (Gerrish & Lathlean, 2015).
5. Content development and referencing.
6. Proofreading and plagiarism check.

Three APA reference entries with annotations for the sources related to the topic.

Connelly, R. A., & Turner, T. (2017). Health literacy and child health outcomes: Promoting effective health communication strategies to improve quality of care.

This source covers health literacy by patients and the effect that this has on health outcomes. The literacy, in this case, revolves around the ability of the patient to explain himself or herself to the practitioners and the effect that this has on the quality of care.

Logan, R. A., Siegel, E. R., & IOS Press. (2017). Health literacy: New directions in research, theory, and practice.

This source is a comprehensive one as it integrates research, theory, and practice as critical components of health literacy. The three elements influence health outcomes.

Okan, O., Bauer, U., Levin-Zamir, D., Pinheiro, P., & Sørensen, K. (2019). International handbook of health literacy: Research, practice, and policy across the lifespan.

This source takes a broader perspective, the international perspective, in covering the concept of health literacy. Besides, this source also acknowledges the fact that the government has a role to play in influencing both health literacy and health outcomes through policy.

Source Evaluation

Okan, O., Bauer, U., Levin-Zamir, D., Pinheiro, P., & Sørensen, K. (2019). International handbook of health literacy: Research, practice, and policy across the lifespan.

Currency: This source is current because it was published within the last five years.

Relevance: The source is relevant to our topic as it captures the central theme of health literacy.

Authority: The source is authoritative as it covers the topic on an international scale.

Accuracy: The source is accurate as it connects health literacy to practice, an indicator of health outcomes.

Purpose: The purpose of this source is to offer an international perspective on health literacy and the effect that this has on health outcomes.

Unit 6 discussion

The audience to this research were women, and this is because they are the vulnerable in society. The purpose of this study was to enlighten them on the importance of health literacy on health outcomes, with the setting being a rural area. At the start of the process, all that I needed to consider was the various demographic factors such as age and level of education of the audience.

On the other hand, various sources were used. The suitability of the sources was determined by checking whether the keywords of the topic are covered in the sources. Moreover, CRAAP criteria was also used in source evaluation. This looks for currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose. For credibility, all that I looked for was whether the source is peer-reviewed.

Moreover, there are various challenges that I encountered, with the main one being time. The resources that are available to overcome this hurdle is the ability to get information online. I would urge other students to consider seeking help online from google when conducting research.

Reference

Gerrish, K., & Lathlean, J. (2015). Research process in nursing. West Sussex, England: