2008 Cardinal Health Patient Safety Grant Recipients >

Children’s Hospital Central California

Mind the Gap: A Health Literacy Initiative Aimed at Improving Patient Safety

Low health literacy is strongly related to poor health outcomes with 80% of patients forgetting their physician’s instructions as soon as they leave the doctor’s office. One of the issues surrounding health literacy is the ability of patients and their families to understand written instructions. To address this concern, our initiative will help to ensure non-English speaking patient families understand how to care for their children - by accessing a telephone line after they are discharged. By creating an audible form of communication, patient families will have the opportunity to hear important information as often as needed and additionally, be able to share information with other family members, thus empowering them to be more actively involved in their own care and reducing the potential for errors to occur. Initially the program will provide audio instructions in Hmong, Mixteco-Bajo and Spanish. Each recording will also include information encouraging patients and families to contact their doctor and request further information if they are unclear about any of the instructions. The idea is to help families stay better informed and therefore create better outcomes for their children.

Program inquiries

Simran Kaur, MPH
Patient Safety Project Manager
Phone: 559.353.5164

Children’s Hospital Central California
9300 Valley Children's Place
Madera, CA 93636