ALERT
Project Manager
PhD fellow
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Health Literacy represents a person’s ability to find, understand, appraise and use information about health and health care in order to make knowledge-based decisions related to their own health. It is important that the health services support patients to acquire these skills and adapt services to meet individual’s health literacy needs. Studies have shown that migrants who do not speak the same language as the majority population have worse treatment outcomes compared to the rest of the population. However, we know little about the barriers that patients with a migrant background and rheumatic diseases experience in meeting with healthcare personnel and how their needs for healthcare services can be met.
The purpose of this project is twofold:
1) To gain knowledge about what preferences and needs migrants with inflammatory rheumatic diseases and limited Norwegian language proficiency have for information, support and follow-up from health personnel in order to cope with the disease as best as possible.
2) To develop initiatives that contribute to the health services better meeting the needs of migrants with inflammatory rheumatic diseases and limited Norwegian language proficiency to ensure sufficient health literacy skills so they may live as best as possible with the disease.
WHO CAN JOIN?
Adult patients (over the age of 18) with an inflammatory rheumatic disease, who have a mother tongue other than Norwegian and use an interpreter in their consultation with healthcare personnel.
Healthcare personnel, including GPs, who meet patients with inflammatory rheumatic disease in their practice.
WHAT DOES THE STUDY INCLUDE?
In the study, we will conduct qualitative interviews with approx. 20 patients at Diakonhjemmet hospital and Drammen hospital. We will then carry out separate idea-generating workshops with patients and health personnel to develop concrete actions that can strengthen health literacy skills and contribute to the health services meeting patients' needs for information, support and follow-up in a better way.
The study is completed in a three-year doctoral project and started in the autumn of 2023.