The impact of health and health insurance literacy on access to care for Hispanic/Latino communities.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the impact of health literacy (HL) and health insurance literacy (HIL) on health insurance status and access to health care services for Spanish-speaking communities living in Massachusetts. METHODS: A total of 139 surveys (descriptive, knowledge-based HIL questions, and Short Assessment of Health Literacy in Spanish) and 30 semi-structured interviews were collected and analyzed using chi-square, Mann-Whitney U test, and logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The majority of participants had inadequate HL (56%) and HIL (93%). There were differences in HL scores (t = 4.1; p < .0001) between the insured (M = 12.3, SD = 5.7) and uninsured (M = 7.9, SD = 6.7) and differences (t = 1.9; p = .05) between those with adequate HIL (M = 14.3, SD = 4.3) and inadequate HIL (M = 10.2, SD = 6.6). Participants who were uninsured (MW U = 37.6; p < .0001) and who had inadequate HL (MW U = 5.2; p = .02) were more likely to have never accessed health care in the U.S. Participants who had never accessed health care were 93% less likely to be insured and those with adequate HL were three times more likely to be insured. CONCLUSIONS: Health literacy and HIL are closely associated with insurance status and access to health care for Spanish-speaking communities, indicating the need for further research and enhanced public health efforts to improve knowledge and awareness around navigating health care systems.

Providing Culturally Appropriate Care to American Muslims With Cancer.

Worldwide, Islam is the second most populous religion and, in many countries in the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia, and Africa, it is the predominant religion. The population of Muslims in the United States is projected to dramatically increase in the next few decades. Understanding the role of Islam for people who believe in and follow Islam-Muslims-will provide nurses with important perspectives that affect health behaviors, cancer screening, treatment decision-making, and end-of-life care.
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Feasibility of using algorithm-based clinical decision support for symptom assessment and management in lung cancer.

CONTEXT: Distressing symptoms interfere with the quality of life in patients with lung cancer. Algorithm-based clinical decision support (CDS) to improve evidence-based management of isolated symptoms seems promising, but no reports yet address multiple symptoms. OBJECTIVES: This study examined the feasibility of CDS for a Symptom Assessment and Management Intervention targeting common symptoms in patients with lung cancer (SAMI-L) in ambulatory oncology. The study objectives were to evaluate completion and delivery rates of the SAMI-L report and clinician adherence to the algorithm-based recommendations. METHODS: Patients completed a web-based symptom assessment and SAMI-L created tailored recommendations for symptom management. Completion of assessments and delivery of reports were recorded. Medical record review assessed clinician adherence to recommendations. Feasibility was defined as 75% or higher report completion and delivery rates and 80% or higher clinician adherence to recommendations. Descriptive statistics and generalized estimating equations were used for data analyses. RESULTS: Symptom assessment completion was 84% (95% CI=81-87%). Delivery of completed reports was 90% (95% CI=86-93%). Depression (36%), pain (30%), and fatigue (18%) occurred most frequently, followed by anxiety (11%) and dyspnea (6%). On average, overall recommendation adherence was 57% (95% CI=52-62%) and was not dependent on the number of recommendations (P=0.45). Adherence was higher for anxiety (66%; 95% CI=55-77%), depression (64%; 95% CI=56-71%), pain (62%; 95% CI=52-72%), and dyspnea (51%; 95% CI=38-64%) than for fatigue (38%; 95% CI=28-47%). CONCLUSION: The CDS systems, such as SAMI-L, have the potential to fill a gap in promoting evidence-based care.