Healthy Roads Media Training Sessions

The Ways We Learn

• Understanding Ourselves and Others

Each person has his or her own way of learning, and we tend to teach the way we like to learn. What about those clients that learn in ways that are different from our own style? What do we need to be aware of to make sure our clients learn what we want them to learn? In this session we will explore various learning styles and share some tips for recognizing and addressing these styles.

When providing instruction, whether to students, clients, or patients, it is beneficial to understand how we as teachers learn and provide information. There are a number of differenct learning style profiles. For our purposes, we are going to look at three broad categories:

*Visual Learners (60%)
*Auditory Learners (30%)
*Kinesthetic/Tactile Learner (10%)


What's your style?

Learning Styles Chart - Find your own learning style.
(www.chaminade.org/inspire/learnstl.htm)

Visual Learners
*Represent information by sight, easily memorize, rely on written instructions.
*Tend to offer people information in written form, lots of graphs and charts, frequent memos and signs.
*Writing something down helps them remember.

Recognizing Visual Learners
*Tend to look up to left or right or stare straight ahead with a glazed look.
*Tend to use visual words such as “See what I mean?”
*Hands touch eyes or point to eyes when talking.
*Prefer reading and looking at pictures to learn.
*Tend to write things down and make lists.
*Detail-oriented.

Auditory Learners
*Represent information by sound, preferring the spoken word.
*Prefer talking and listening to learn.
*Spell phonetically and pick up languages quickly.
*Like to discuss and are good at receiving verbal instructions.

Recognizing Auditory Learners
*Tend to move their lips when they read.
*Tend to look to the side, towards their ears.
*Love to talk and repeat out loud what is said, and prefer discussion to reading.
*Use auditory words, “Hear what I mean?”
*Hands point toward ears or use “telephone” motions.

Kinesthetic/Tactile Learners
*Represent information by feeling, moving, and doing.
*A hands-on learner.
*Like to figure it out themselves.
*Often labeled slow learners. It is not easy to put nonverbal actions into words.

Recognizing Kinesthetic/Tactile Learners
*Tend to look down to the side of their predominant hand.
*Use words such as “Do you get what I mean?”
*Move their hands a lot while talking.
*Need to do things a few times to “know it.”

Before we talk about ways to reach these types of learners, there is another part of the puzzle that often clouds the issue.

• Literacy/Health Literacy

  Over 90 million people in the United States have low literacy skills. That means that one fourth of our population is lacking the necessary skills to function in modern society.

  Health literacy is defined as "the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions." (Williams, 416) These skills include reading, listening, problem-solving, and decision-making. The number of people that are thought to be health illiterate is even higher than the general literacy rate.

  What does this mean for health care?

  It is estimated that inadequate health literacy costs the health care system $30-$73 billion dollars annually. There are usually more doctor visits, more hospitalizations, longer hospital stays, and more medication and treatment errors.

  Who does this affect?

  It affects people of all social classes. Populations at risk include the elderly, minorities, immigrants, welfare recipients, and those with chronic or mental health conditions.

  Why do we miss detecting low health literacy?

  1. Clients do not volunteer this information.
     * They do not recognize it themselves.
     * Many are ashamed of their reading problem and hide it.
     
     
  2. Clients often do not fit the stereotype.
     * 75% are born in the US.
     * 50% are white.
     * 40% have full or part-time jobs.
     * 25% finished high school.
     75% of the above populations read below 8th grade level.
     50% read below the 5th grade level.

Problem: Most health material is written at the 10th grade level or above.

• Addressing Learning Style and Health Literacy Issues

  Clues indicating possible low health literacy:

  • Bringing other family members to their clinic visits and wanting them in on the discussions..
  • Claim they forgot their reading glasses.
  • Inadequately or incompletely filling out forms.
  • Interpreting words literally and individually rather than as phrases or more complex meanings.
  • Hand the client written instructions upside down. Failure to turn the page right side up is an indication of a total lack of reading skills.
    
    

  It is not so surprising that the ways we would work with low health literacy concerns also addresses the differences in learning styles.

  What can we do to help our clients learn?

  Never assume that they understand, even if they say yes.

  Ask for clarification using "how" or "what" instead of questions requiring a "yes" or "no" answer. Have them teach you or show you what they have learned.(participation)

  Demonstrate when needs to be done.

  If culturally appropriate, make eye contact with the client and sit or stand at their level.

  Simplify printed education materials by making them easy to read and/or adding pictures, graphics, cartoons.

  Make eduation materials available in more than one format. This not only allows for variations in learning styles but also helps the non-reader.

  Reinforce written instructions with verbal instructions and vice versa.

  Limit the number of concepts that you give them at one time, and repeat the instruction.(repetition)

  Use simple language rather than medical language. (low blood sugar, not hypoglycemia) Watch acronyms and abbreviations..

  Slow down when giving instructions.

  Be respectful, caring, empathetic, and sensitive.

  Be positive and encouraging. Have "help" in your voice and on your face.

  Be a good listener.

  Incorporate examples that reflect the client's cultural beliefs and values.

  If you work with a particular client often you may want to explore testing for literacy.

  Present important information first and last.

  Pronounce and write unfamiliar terms. (peanutbutter balls = phenobarbitol)

  Allow the client to have time to observe, practice, think and ask questions, read it, say it aloud, organize it in a way that makes sense to them.

  AWARENESS, GOOD COMMUNICATION, VARIETY, RESPECT

  Additional Information Sources