Defense Date

7-17-2025

Graduation Date

Summer 8-8-2025

Submission Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Department

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Program

School

School of Nursing

Faculty Mentor

Frank Kosnosky

Committee Member

Bryan Woodford

Keywords

health literacy, cardiovascular disease, social determinants of health, rural communities, Appalachia

Abstract

Abstract

Improving health literacy is one of the main goals of Healthy People 2030. However, there are no evidence-based guidelines as health literacy is still in research status (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, n.d.). Vulnerable populations are especially at risk of having low health literacy skills. Social determinants of health, such as poverty, lack of access to care, few community resources, and low health literacy, are common issues throughout Appalachia, which includes West Virginia. These disparities negatively impact the success of primary and secondary prevention for cardiovascular disease (Mangini et al., 2018). This quality improvement project utilized the Plan-Do-Study-Act framework to investigate whether individualizing the educational needs of patients with low health literacy improves cardiovascular risk factors. Patients with low health literacy screening completed the Short Assessment of Health Literacy - English questionnaire before receiving individualized education tailored to their learning needs and preferences. Cardiovascular risk factors were measured before and after the intervention. Results demonstrate improved cardiovascular risk factors following repetitive, personalized education sessions using the Teach-Back method. The project exemplifies the need for the development and utilization of health literacy programs to improve cardiovascular outcomes for vulnerable patient populations.

Keywords: health literacy, cardiovascular disease, social determinants of health, rural communities, Appalachia

Language

English

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