PCOM library receives grant to study patient health literacy

Patients juggling multiple prescriptions and chronic diseases could have trouble managing their health at home without proper education on next steps. The Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) Library plans to use a grant to study how patient education from the college’s health care centers impacts patients’ ability to comply with their treatment plan.

A $15,000 grant from the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health will fund the project. The library will collect data about patients’ education through observation, interviews, surveys and physician and psychologist focus groups.

“Part of meeting the needs of our patients is providing them with relevant information about their health and any conditions they need to manage,” Harry J. Morris, DO, MPH, PCOM’s chairman of family medicine, said in a statement. “Something as simple as giving them a pamphlet to take with them can help underscore what their doctor is telling them, but it has to be well-understood by the patient in order to be effective.”

The library hopes the information gathered can be used for future research efforts on PCOM’s patient population.