Skip to content
Teach-back Logo Teach-back Logo Teach-back Logo
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • TEACH-BACK NEWS
  • LEARN ABOUT TEACH-BACK
    • Online Module
    • Tips for practice
    • Teach-back presentation
    • Evaluating teach-back
    • Health literacy resources
    • Teach-back videos
    • Organisational use
    • Supporting evidence

What can we do to help improve communication and understanding? – 5

Home » What can we do to help improve communication and understanding? – 5
What can we do to help improve communication and understanding? – 5The Teach-back Team2022-11-24T07:24:21+00:00

What can we do to help improve communication and understanding?

Use

Teach-back logo

We can use teach-back to help identify gaps in understanding. Teach-back involves someone expressing that information in their own words.

Teach-back puts the responsibility onto healthcare workers to make sure the information they provide is easy to understand.

Teach-back can be used at any time or in any context. Not only in clinical interactions, but also in non-clinical interactions such as making appointments, or giving directions. For example,

Finding your way around a hospital

Explaining how to find your way around a hospital.

How someone can manage their diabetes

Showing someone how they can manage their diabetes.

Helping people know what to do when they go home from the Emergency department

Helping people know what to do when they go home from the Emergency Department.

How to reduce the likelihood of a fall at home

Showing people how to modify their home to reduce the likelihood of a fall.

When, where and for whom should you use teach-back?
The correct answer is D – teach-back is flexible enough to be used by anyone at any time about any issue.

Why is teach-back so important?

Let’s look at an example.

Your browser does not support the video tag.

“What is happening here?”

What may seem clear to one person can be misunderstood by another.
We cannot assume anything about a person’s ability to understand, particularly when they are in stressful situation or hearing things for the first time. Just because someone has a higher education or income, this doesn’t mean they will understand what you are saying.

Teach-back and health literacy

Teach-back is a good alternative to formal screening because it can quickly provide healthcare workers with information about a person’s health literacy strengths and needs.

For more information on health literacy visit the following links:

What is the evidence for the effectiveness of teach-back in improving client outcomes and safety?

  • Using teach-back for people with chronic disease was associated with improved knowledge, skills and self-care abilities.

  • The use of teach-back with discharge education for patients in hospital led to reduced medication errors and improved self-management after discharge.

  • A study of teach-back among people with low health literacy and diabetes found increased adherence to medication and dietary instructions.

Reference

Ha Dinh, T., Bonner, A., Clark, R., et al. 2016. The effectiveness of the teach‐back method on adherence and self‐management in health education for people with chronic disease: a systematic review. JBI Database of Systematic Reviews and Implementation Reports. 14(1), 210-47.

Reference

Negarandeh, R., Mahmoodi, H., Noktehdan, H., et al. 2013. Teach back and pictorial image educational strategies on knowledge about diabetes and medication/dietary adherence among low health literate persons with type 2 diabetes. Primary Care Diabetes. 7(2), 111-8.

Reference

Negarandeh, R., Mahmoodi, H., Noktehdan, H., et al. 2013. Teach back and pictorial image educational strategies on knowledge about diabetes and medication/dietary adherence among low health literate persons with type 2 diabetes. Primary Care Diabetes. 7(2), 111-8.

Paasche-Orlow, M., Bilderback, A., Chanmugam, A., et al. 2005. Tailored education may reduce health literacy disparities in asthma self-management. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 172(8), 980-986.

Schillinger, D., Piette, J., Grumbach, K., et al. 2003. Closing the loop: physician communication with diabetic persons who have low health literacy. Arch Intern Med. 163, 83–90.

  • The use of teach-back with people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) led to improvements in inhaler use.

  • In relation to heart failure, teach-back was found to reduce readmissions.

  • One US-based study found that teach-back improved nurses’ ability to identify when someone did not understand.
Reference

Dantic, D. 2013. A critical review of the effectiveness of ‘teach-back’ technique in teaching COPD persons self-management using respiratory inhalers. Health Educ J. 73(1), 41-50.

Reference

DeWalt, D., Malone, R., Bryant, M., et al. 2006. A heart failure self-management program for persons of all literacy levels: A randomized, controlled trial. BMC Health Services Research. 6, 30.

Krumholz, H., Amatruda, J., Smith, G., et al. 2002. Randomized trial of an education and support intervention to preventreadmission of persons with heart failure. JAMA. 39(1), 83-9.

Peter, D., Robinson, P., Jordan, M., et al. 2015. Reducing readmissions using teach-back. Journal of Nursing Administration. 45(1), 35-52.

Reference

Kornburger, C., Gibson, C., Sadowski, S., et al. 2013. Using “teach-back” to promote a safe transition from hospital to home: an evidence-based approach to improving the discharge process. Journal of Pediatric Nursing. 28, 282–291.

NEXT SECTION
Teach-back logo

- a simple yet effective educational
tool used to check understanding

Partners

Accreditation

After completing the learning module you will receive a certificate which you can add to your continuing professional development record.

Subscribe to our Teach-back Blog

Sign up here to receive notifications of each new post.
Loading
© 2018 Teachback.org | All Rights Reserved
Page load link
Go to Top