Enhancing Health Literacy through Developing Core Abilities of Correct Medication Usage in Taiwan
HSUEH-YUN CHI1, JUNG-CHEN CHANG1, MING-KUNG YEH2, CHIH-FANG CHEN3, JAW-JOU KANG4 AND HSIEN-WEI TING5,6*
1. Department of Health Developing and Marketing, KainanUniversity, Taoyuan, Taiwan, R.O.C.
2. Institute of Preventive Medicine, NationalDefenseMedicalCenter, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
3. Department of Pharmacy, MackeyMemorialHospital, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
4. Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health, Executive Yuan, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
5. Department of Neurosurgery, TaipeiHospital, Department of Health, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
6. Department of Information Management, Yuan Ze University, Taoyuan, Taiwan, R.O.C.
(Received: August 16, 2011; Accepted: May 2, 2012)
ABSTRACT
The core abilities in correct medication usage was developed in Taiwan through the following stages: literature research and information collection, focus groups and experts meetings to discuss and develop core abilities, disseminate the education activities of these core abilities in 51 schools, and evaluative survey. Forty-four articles were abstracted for reference of voting in the focus groups. The most popular issues related to medication usage and safety were “medications provided by medical or pharmacy experts” and “how to take medications correctly”. The experts meetings generated five core abilities of correct medication usages: ability to clearly express personal conditions to your physicians, ability to check information on the medication packages, ability to correctly take medications as prescribed, ability to be the master of yourself in taking medications, and ability to be friends with pharmacists and physicians. 444 teachers and 4035 students participated in the evaluative survey on the core ability of correct medication usage. The education activities implemented enhances the core ability of correct medication usage in the knowledge, attitude, and behaviors of the students and teachers. Each question in the survey was developed with a single correct response and addressed five aspects: knowledge, attitude, practice, actual use of medications, and partnership. The scale has good reliability and validity, with content validity index of 0.91 and the internal consistency reliability above 0.69, the split-half reliability above 0.77, and the test-retest reliability above 0.83. The study concluded that the five core abilities of correct medications usage in Taiwan can enhance the health literacy. Further studies are needed to evaluate the utilization in subjects with different backgrounds or health conditions.
Key words: core abilities, health education, health literacy, life skills, correct medication usage, patient-centered health care