Enhancing Patient Education in Physical Therapy: Insights into Practices, Barriers, and Health Literacy

Area of Science:

• Physical Therapy
• Health Communication
• Patient Education

Background:

• Patient education is a cornerstone of physical therapy practice.
• Current understanding of patient education strategies employed by physical therapists (PTs) and physical therapist assistants (PTAs) in the U.S. is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate current patient education practices among PTs and PTAs in the United States.
• To identify barriers and facilitators to effective patient education.
• To assess knowledge of health literacy universal precautions.

Main Methods:

• A concurrent mixed-mode survey was administered to 715 PTs and PTAs.
• 157 completed responses were collected and analyzed.

Main Results:

• Key barriers included patient's cognitive and emotional status, and lack of provider-patient trust.
• While 6/8 recommended clear communication techniques were used, familiarity with health literacy universal precautions was low.
• Therapists rarely assessed the reading level of provided written materials.

Conclusions:

• Demographic differences among providers influenced health literacy knowledge and communication techniques.
• There is a need to enhance provider understanding and application of health literacy universal precautions.
• Implications for clinical practice and future research in patient education and clear communication are discussed.