The 3 A's of Health Literacy - Accurate, Accessible, & Actionable: Sydney Bassard, The ListeningSLP

The 3 A’s of Health Literacy - Accurate, Accessible, and Actionable.  Today’s episode with Sydney Bassard (The ListeningSLP) takes a deeper dive into the importance of health literacy from a family and professional perspective. Sydney is an ASHA-certified speech-language pathologist.  She received her B.S. in Public Health and her Masters in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of South Carolina.  Her clinical focus is working with individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing and those with literacy challenges. Sydney’s motto of listening, learning, and advocating stems from the principles guiding her clinical practice.

To connect with Sydney be sure to visit all social media platforms:

@thelisteningslp

https://www.thelisteningslp.com/

hello@thelisteningslp.com

You can listen to this episode wherever you stream podcasts and at www.3cdigitalmedianetwork.com/empowear-audiology-podcast

For more information about Dr. Carrie Spangler- check out her Linktree at https://linktr.ee/carrie.spangler.

For transcripts of this episode- visit the podcast website at: https://empowearaudiology.buzzsprout.com

Transcript

Announcer: [00:00:00] Welcome to episode 62 of empowEAR Audiology with Dr. Carrie Spangler.

Carrie: [00:00:15] Welcome to the empowEAR Audiology Podcast, a production of the 3C Digital Media Network. I am your host, Dr. Carrie Spangler, a passionate, deaf and hard of hearing audiologist. Each episode will bring an empowering message surrounding audiology and beyond. Thank you for spending time with me today, and let's get started with today's episode. Okay, today I am excited to introduce to all of you Sydney Bassard and she is an ASHA certified Speech-Language pathologist. She received both her Bachelor of Science and Public Health and her Master of Speech Pathology from the University of South Carolina. Sydney is licensed in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Her clinical focus areas are working with individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing, and those with literacy challenges. Her motto of listening, learning, and advocating stems from the three principles that guide her clinical practice. Sydney, I want to welcome you to the empowEAR Audiology podcast. Thanks for being here.

Sydney: [00:01:29] Thank you so much for having me, Carrie. I'm really excited.

Carrie: [00:01:32] I'm excited to have this conversation with you, too. Before we dive into today's topic of health literacy, I would love if you could share with our audience a little background of how you ventured into the field of speech-language pathology, and then your interest of working with children and individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing.

Sydney: [00:01:56] Yeah, so I have like an unconventional way that I came into the field. So I actually went to school to be a pharmacist and thought that that was going to be what I was going to do. And then over time, my brother, who's younger than me, got diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD. So I ended up working for a literacy intervention company and loved the work that I was doing there. It was far better than the hard sciences that I was having to take in order to try to become a pharmacist. So I ended up switching my major and became a public health major, and then ultimately went to grad school to become an SLP. So that's kind of how I got into speech language pathology. And then specifically with the deaf and hard of hearing population, I met a professor who does research in that area, and she was looking for people to help volunteer in her lab. I signed up and said, sure, I'd love to. Like I want to make connections. And that's where I started learning a lot more about this particular population, specifically looking at listening, spoken language and literacy outcomes. And ever since then, I've been here.

Carrie: [00:03:03] Well, yeah. That's exciting. I love hearing everybody's stories of how they kind of venture into it, because everyone has such a lot of people have an unconventional way that they get into it. I also wanted to ask you a little bit about your listeningSLP. I feel like that's how I know you because of a lot of your social media, which is amazing what you put out there. But can you just share about your work experience and your business?

Sydney: [00:03:32] Yeah. Thank you. So I used to work outpatient pediatrics on a cochlear implant team, and I loved what I was doing. But coming from a public health background, one thing that I always was able to notice is when people had a good grasp and understanding of some of the things that they were being asked to do for their child with following up for audiological appointments, whether it was going to weekly speech therapy sessions, charging the device, all of those different things. Right. And so when people had a good understanding, you saw that they did them pretty naturally versus when people didn't have a great understanding. Sometimes it came, it could come off to professionals as if they didn't care. They weren't trying when really it wasn't any of those things. It's that they didn't have a good understanding or knowledge of what they were supposed to do. So I was like, you know, I have all of this knowledge about hearing loss and working with the population from grad school. I would love to just share like little tidbits and things that people could do at home. So it really started on. I just wanted to share about listening and spoken language on Instagram, and it's kind of morphed since then, as my own thinking has morphed a little bit too. And now our goal is really just how do we support language development for deaf and hard of hearing children, and then also to how we can find different resources and supports that families may not know about.

Carrie: [00:04:59] Yeah, well, I know your little tidbits are just like those little bytes of information kind of stick with people. So it's nice to have that. And I know today we had talked ahead of the podcast and wanted to dive deeper into a conversation about health literacy and how that can impact a lot of the families that our listeners are working with. And I can see now that your combination or your background with public health and Speech-Language pathology really kind of tie into this. So on a general level, can you just share with the audience what is health literacy and what are some of those key components of health literacy?

Sydney: [00:05:45] Yes. So health literacy just actually got a new definition. So we can think of it as two kind of constructs. You have personal health literacy. And that's just really more so about the degree to which an individual or a person is able to find, understand and use information in order to make health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others. And then the other one is about organizational health literacy. So that's being able to understand how to navigate and work within a system in order to make those informed healthcare decisions for themselves and for other people. And both of those are based on the CDC definition of what health literacy is to this point. So when I think about health literacy, there's the three A's that we can always have. And this is what I encourage people to think about when we are looking for information or creating information. It should always be accurate, accessible and actionable.

Carrie: [00:06:46] I like that acronym or the accurate, accessible and actionable and. For having those three A's. How can how does that impact the well-being for families and and individuals? How can we make the three A's come alive for families?

Sydney: [00:07:09] Oh, I mean, I personally think that having a good understanding of whatever is going on is like the driving force to really committing to care, but also understanding the importance of it. So when we think about like information needing to be accurate, right, we know that sometimes pseudoscience is excuse me, we know sometimes that pseudoscience is out there. So that just means like information that's not accurate. So whenever we're sharing things we want to make sure that it is accurate. It's based on evidence that's based on the science that we know is there. So that we want to share with families like things that they're actually able to understand from that perspective. Then it should be accessible. So accessibility sometimes is not always in like just the print form. That may be multimedia. It could be video. And then we should always think about the fact that the average reading rate is around eighth grade for adults across the US. So when we are looking for resources, if they have a higher reading level and in order to understand them, meaning that they're filled with professional words and jargon that may not be accessible for people, like for the general public or population and then actionable. So one thing that we know, like coming out of the field of public health, is that information alone is not enough. So it's great that they have accurate information that it was accessible for them. But if there's no actionable steps based on what's being presented, what exactly are they supposed to do with that? And so sometimes too, when we don't talk about what is actionable, that's maybe where we see like a breakdown in communication and fall off with care.

Carrie: [00:08:53] Yeah. Which is kind of leads directly into my next question is like, what are some of the challenges that families face as it relates to health literacy, too? I mean, you talked about this breakdown with actionable items, but it probably breaks down on all of these three A levels.

Sydney: [00:09:17] I think the biggest one that I've seen is like lost to follow up with care. So we see a lot of people who we know in the US. We're really fortunate that we have a newborn hearing screening program that's universal in all 50 states, but people go through that, right. And then there's no sometimes kids have no follow up and no follow up can happen for many reasons, right? The parents just don't follow up. People move. Things happen. Like somebody may be feeling overwhelmed with having a newborn and then also having to do an additional appointment. In addition to like the well-baby appointments, there's so many things that can happen. But when we're talking about after the screening, if it just says your child, you know, did not pass, this is what we want you to do. But it's not like written in a parent-friendly way. If it like the steps are not actionable in the sense of like you just told them that they should follow up, but like a list wasn't provided or hyperlinks to a website for them to make the appointment online weren't provided. Is that actually actionable? Maybe. Maybe not. So we see that, I think on the early end, but then even to his kids kind of progressed. I mean, sometimes people have difficulties where they don't go to mappings or they're not able to make it to mappings. Do they understand the importance of like why we do CI mappings, why going to those appointments are important? Do they understand the importance of speech therapy and not just being like, oh, so my kid can talk, but to have like a better and more accurate understanding of exactly what they're supposed to be doing in order to benefit their kid. And if they're not provided with that information, maybe they just don't know, especially if this is their first encounter with like, children, or if it's their first encounter with like navigating the deaf and hard of hearing space.

Carrie: [00:11:09] Which is statistically about 90% of our families who are kind of navigating through that space. Because a lot of times that the child is the first person that they've met who happens to be deaf or hard of hearing. Do you see? Um. Any other barriers as it relates to maybe cultural differences or language differences that kind of contribute to the health literacy challenges too.

Sydney: [00:11:44] Yeah. So we know that these kind of what sometimes are called disparities in the field exist across the board. And so we see it even with health literacy and how it comes into play, is that information being presented in a way that is culturally mindful. So just because I have an infographic, maybe knowing that, like a family might have distrust of the medical system or people is like giving them a handout and sending them out the door. The best way to do it? Maybe not. If I have a video version of the same thing that shows real people talks about real experiences, maybe that would resonate more, especially if we know that there are people that like, look like them or that are within their culture kind of represented within those spaces. Um, I think too, sometimes, like we as professionals tend to be some of that barrier when it comes to health literacy and health information. We want to think that we're not gatekeepers of information, but I've sat on many different sides with many different families, and sometimes it's the professionals like we are not freely sharing all of the different resources in a responsible way. We might just start rattling off about 5 or 10 things, but what we never did was spend time to send a follow-up with actionable hyperlinks that people can go and look for more resources, or even sometimes to like after you give people information, asking them what questions do you have and not do you have any questions? Because most people will be like, no, no, no, no. Like what questions do you have? Most times somebody at least comes up with one and it kind of opens that door for a conversation.

Carrie: [00:13:23] Yeah, those open-ended questions are really important in that kind of a situation, and probably giving some wait time to just let them process and think about all of that. You shared a lot about some of these barriers, especially as professionals that we kind of, you know, put up, I guess, are kind of gatekeepers of information. Do you have some specific strategies that could be employed in order to enhance health literacy for families, especially our families who have children who are deaf or hard of hearing?

Sydney: [00:14:02] Yeah. So I always think that before you provide anything, you need to have gone through it yourself. That sounds a little silly to say, but in being transparent, I've done it like I have done the thing of like, you just pick up a resource, you skim over it really quick and you're like, okay, this looks good enough. And you, you hand it to somebody because we know that we're busy and sometimes things happen, but really making sure that we take the time to read this through, is it riddled with a bunch of technical terms that may make it difficult for a family, that maybe that's not one that I'm going to share, or I might modify it in a way and like on my own, make notes on the side for somebody to be able to follow along with it. So looking at it from that standpoint with accuracy and making sure like the readability of the information is good, I think with accessibility, especially with individuals who are deaf and are hard of hearing, not just always providing things in printed form can be helpful. And then even like an aside, thinking about where the printed materials are. So if they're readily available but they're, you know, not in a place that's easily seen, that can be challenging.

Sydney: [00:15:14] So having them in multiple different places around the office could be good. But then also thinking about the way that the media is presented. So printed form tends to be the way that we do things. But we know that like the reading rates for adults are low in this country. We also know too that most people don't actually read. I mean, think about when your doctor gives you something about your health, or even better, when you get medication from the pharmacist. And it's like, here's this pamphlet for you to learn all about it. And you do what? You rip it off and you throw it in the trash. Same thing is happening with most people. So if you can provide something in a video format, and then we know that with videos we always want to make sure like captioning is available. So looking to see if those things are kind of out there as well. And then always, always, always there's something actionable that there's a website or even a statement like, you know, call your pediatric audiologist now or contact your local speech-language pathologist for questions. Here's how you can find one. If you don't have like, give the people something for them to have to do after they've soaked in that information.

Carrie: [00:16:20] And you talked about the different ways of presenting it, like print and like video and different ways like that. Do you feel that actually sitting there with them is helpful too, or that's just probably not always. A way to do it or it's not available. You're not with them?

Sydney: [00:16:44] Yeah.I think sitting with people as they watch it is really beneficial. Well, one, you can assure at least if nothing else, they got the information right, but two, then you're there for whatever questions they may have. I think the internet is a beautiful place. I don't know what I would do without the internet. It provides lots of great resources, but the internet is not a replacement for a professional. So sometimes if we give somebody a resource and we're not there to help guide and scaffold their understanding of what is available, they turn to the internet. And sometimes they may get really good responses and advice, and sometimes they're getting advice and responses that were going, oh no, that's definitely not where we need to be. So kind of handholding. I don't see it as hand-holding. I see it more so as like you're ensuring that people at least have the baseline of what they should.

Carrie: [00:17:45] And. Going off of that. You know, I know all of us use like social media, whether it's, you know, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, all of that good stuff that is out there. How how can families really discern reliable and accurate health information because they're getting it from these different avenues?

Sydney: [00:18:12] Yes. And I think that's where the tricky part comes in. Right. Because as professionals, to a certain extent, we have a little bit of training of how to evaluate for this information of being good. But if you're a family and you're like, I'm just grasping for anything, you may not have the skills to do that. So the one thing that I look for when I'm looking for any type of support is, is this citing other resources? Right. So one person should not be like the sole idea bank, even when you look at the CDC website, which is very helpful when looking at different information, they are citing research articles or other places for where they got some of the things that they're supporting. So for families, I think always looking to see like are they referencing some other bodies of work in some aspects is going to be good because you know that they're not just relying on themselves, they're using something else. To kind of seeing like across different things. And now this is going to take a little work. Sometimes we like having that one stop shop of I got this and I'm good to go and I'm walking out the door, but especially if you don't know a lot of information about it, I think getting a couple of different things. And pulling from multiple places is going to be beneficial and helpful, because then you're able to do a little bit more of a comparison of what this particular resource says, that this resource says and what this resource says as well.

Carrie: [00:19:41] Yeah, which can kind of be overwhelming for families. As we shared at the beginning, you know, 90% of families, this is the first time that they're going through that. And if they have these different resources that they're looking at, how can families really make that informed decision as far as like, which one should I be? You know, I guess believing or kind of investing so that they're making the best decision for their child.

Sydney: [00:20:16] Yeah. So I think that doing your own research is good. I am a big personal believer in, like, we are our own health advocates. Like we have to have understanding, but that's where professionals come in too. So like, even if you've kind of looked at a couple of different resources and you still have questions, reach out to reach out and get professional support and help. And I know that sometimes that comes with a cost, but there are definitely opportunities out there that are not as expensive. Um, or places I think where you can like basically phone in a question and see if you're able to get a response. I think that that helps alleviate a little bit of the burden on families like your goal is to be informed, but your goal is not to become the doctor. So you may have to do a little bit of your own research, but you don't have to take on fully understanding and comprehending everything on your own.

Carrie: [00:21:10] And kind of on the flip side, to help families along, what can we as communication professionals, speech-language pathologists, audiologists, teachers of the deaf, anybody kind of related in our field? What role can we play in educational programs or initiatives to really address health literacy with families?

Sydney: [00:21:33] Yeah, I think the biggest thing is looking at the readability of text and start curating resources. So I always like to have multiple resources that talk about the same thing, but they might talk about it in a slightly different manner. So depending on who's in front of me, I'm not just constantly saying like, here's here's this information on this, it's no, you're able to modify and adapt for the individual and the needs that are in front of you. And then I think we have to spend time. And I know that time is limited. Like, this sounds lovely. And in a perfect world, we do this, but we do need to have time within our days and our schedules to look for these resources we do not know at all. Like I love audiology. If I could, I would be dual certified, but there's so much that I don't know and it would be an injustice to the people that I serve to try to like, give them all of this information and say, here you go. Like, no, no, maybe I have 1 or 2 pieces of information about audiology, and then I'm putting it back on, like referring to the professional helping to direct them and kind of guide them back. And then we as professionals too, can whenever we see some of these initiatives or things take place, like reach out and figure out how we can support and help, and then also to kind of learning from these other people that have started doing some of this work, how to present information that way. I mean, 90% of the things that have come from the Listening SLP are because I couldn't find it somewhere else. And but these were things that I needed or things that I wanted for people to know or to be able to share. So being able to kind of create your own is also something that you can do too.

Carrie: [00:23:24] Yeah. And kind of looking forward. I know you're you have creative mind and the comment that you just made of like I couldn't find it anywhere else. So I did some of that accurate research myself to put something accessible together that might be actionable for someone else. But how do you envision the future of health literacy as a whole?

Sydney: [00:23:51] Oh, I see health literacy coming into play more and more, and I'm really excited to hear that more grad school programs are doing a little bit more with public health and realizing, like the impact of public health within our field, public health impacts every aspect of an individual's life. Being able to have good understanding, like the decisions that we're asking people to make when it comes to health-related things, are going to impact them or their child for the lifetime. So we can't take these things lightly and just be like, okay, well, you're making a decision like, no, people should be able to make well-informed decisions, and the only way they can do that is by fully understanding and grasping all of the information there. So as we see like the not the invention, but like more prevalence of people using video as a way to communicate and things like that, I think we're definitely going to see more of an increase for all populations, but especially like this population, about what exactly like initial steps look like, what follow up looks like and supports that are there.

Carrie: [00:25:04] You. And hopefully, with all of that, we will have more informed parents who, like you said, that have the direct impact on the outcomes of children who are deaf and hard of hearing because they are the number one advocates and they're always going to be there for them.

Sydney: [00:25:25] Yeah, absolutely.

Carrie: [00:25:28] So Sydney, as we kind of wrap up today, is there anything I didn't ask you that you wished I would have asked you?

Sydney: [00:25:37] I don't think so. Um, no. I was just so happy to be here and kind of chat about health literacy. Like, this is definitely been my first love. Um, long before doing anything like super speech-related. I've always loved health literacy and just have seen it as such an important thing that we as professionals just don't talk about enough. But we are now. And so that, I think, is the the best thing that we can do.

Carrie: [00:26:12] Well, Sydney, if there are listeners out there who would like to get a hold of you, how can they do that? How can they find you?

Sydney: [00:26:26] Uh, so you you can find me at the Listening SLP on all social media platforms, dot the listeningslp.com. Or you can send me an email at hello at the listening slp.com.

Carrie: [00:26:41] Okay, well, I will definitely make sure to put those links in the show notes so that people can directly link and follow you and all of your social media platforms, as well as get a hold of you through email. And Sydney, thank you so much for being a guest today on the EmpowEAR Audiology podcast. It was a great conversation about health literacy and where how we need to be thinking in order to be advocates and in our profession, but also for the families and children that we work with on a daily basis.

Sydney: [00:27:20] Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. Really appreciate it.

Announcer: [00:27:24] Thank you for listening. This has been a production of the 3C Digital Media Network.