January 2024

GERIATRICS

STUDY SHOWS CAREGIVERS WITH LOW HEALTH LITERACY STRUGGLE WITH HEALTH TASKS

Featuring: Rachel M O’Conor
The study titled “Caregiver health literacy and health task performance: Findings from the LitCog caregiver cohort study” examines the association between caregiver health literacy and performance on health tasks. The study recruited caregivers to older adults enrolled in a cognitive aging cohort to participate in a supplemental interview. Caregivers completed one structured interview that included assessments of health literacy and health task performance. 

The results showed that caregivers with marginal and low health literacy demonstrated worse overall performance on the health tasks, and poorer interpretation of health information presented on print documents and recall of spoken communication. The study concludes that caregivers with marginal or low health literacy demonstrated poorer performance on everyday health tasks that they commonly assist older adults with. The application of health literacy best-practices to support better training and capacity-building for caregivers is warranted.

This study is innovative because few studies have considered the health literacy skills of caregivers and its application to caregivers’ abilities to carry out common supportive tasks. The study highlights the importance of health literacy in caregivers’ ability to provide effective support to older adults in managing their chronic conditions. The findings of this study can be used to develop interventions that improve health literacy among caregivers and enhance their ability to provide effective support to older adults. The study also emphasizes the need for healthcare providers to recognize the role of caregivers in managing the health of older adults and to provide them with the necessary support and resources to carry out their tasks effectively.

To ready the full article, click here.
Rachel O'Conor PhD, MPH, is an associate professor of Medicine (General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics).

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