Perceptions of the incorporation of health literacy in pharmacy training programs

Objectives: To assess pharmacy residents' perceptions regarding the in-corporation of health literacy in pharmacy school and pharmacy residency training and to assess confidence while interacting with patients of limited health literacy. Design: Prospective cross-sectional study. Setting: United States from March to May 2012. Participants: Postgraduate year (PGY) 1 and -2 pharmacy residents and pharmacy residency program directors. Intervention: Online survey. Main outcome measure: PGY1 and -2 resident perceptions of health literacy incorporation into pharmacy school and residency training. Results: 939 surveys were completed. Residents agreed that their pharmacy school training encouraged the development of health literacy skills (P < 0.001) and made efforts to improve health literacy awareness (P < 0.001) significantly more than their PGY1 programs. In addition, they felt significantly more confident in their ability to communicate with patients with limited health literacy after their pharmacy school training compared with during or following PGY1 residency training (P < 0.001); however, no difference was found regarding confidence in identifying patients of limited health literacy. Conclusion: PGY1 residency programs lag behind the efforts of schools of pharmacy to incorporate the health literacy training essential to encountering patients of limited health literacy. Future studies should assess whether these perceptions reflect true health literacy awareness and management among pharmacy residents.