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CAHPS Health Literacy Item Sets _ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
CAHPS Health Literacy Item Sets _ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
(https://www.ahrq.gov/)
Supplemental items related to health literacy are available for three CAHPS surveys:
Health Literacy Items for the Clinician & Group Survey 3.0 (https://www.ahrq.gov/cahps/surveys-guidance/item-sets/cg/suppl-healthlit-
items-cg-survey30-adult.html) 2 (https://www.ahrq.gov#ref-2)
Health Literacy Items for the Health Plan Survey 5.0 (https://www.ahrq.gov/cahps/surveys-guidance/item-sets/hp/suppl-healthlit-items-hp-
survey50-adult.html)
Health Literacy Items for the Hospital Survey (Adult version) (https://www.ahrq.gov/cahps/surveys-guidance/item-sets/literacy/suppl-
healthlit-items.html)
The primary goal of these supplemental items is to capture the patients' perspective on how well health information is communicated to them by
health care professionals. They are intended to serve as both a measure of whether health care professionals have succeeded in reducing the
health literacy demands they place on patients, and as a tool for quality improvement.
Users of these item sets can report the results for individual items as well as a few composite measures (https://www.ahrq.gov/cahps/surveys-
guidance/item-sets/literacy/measures.html) .
Identify specific topic areas for quality improvement (e.g., communication about test results, medications, and forms).
Recognize particular behaviors that inhibit effective communication (e.g., talking too fast, using medical jargon).
Assist in designing a safer, shame-free environment where patients feel comfortable discussing their health care concerns (e.g., showing
interest in questions, explaining forms).
Measure the effect of behaviors that promote effective communication (e.g., confirming understanding through teach-back, using visual
aids).
Related Resources
CAHPS Ambulatory Care Improvement Guide (https://www.ahrq.gov/cahps/quality-improvement/improvement-guide/improvement-
guide.html) , AHRQ
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02/07/2024, 21:29 CAHPS Health Literacy Item Sets | Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
The Health Literacy Item Set for Hospitals was released in 2015. For more information about this item set, read About the CAHPS Health Literacy
Item Set for Hospitals (https://www.ahrq.gov/sites/default/files/wysiwyg/cahps/surveys-guidance/item-
sets/literacy/about_the_health_literacy_item_set_for_hospitals_911.pdf) (PDF, 291 KB).
(https://www.ahrq.gov) 1. Health literacy is part of the Healthy People 2030 framework’s foundational principles and goals
(https://health.gov/our-work/national-health-initiatives/healthy-people/healthy-people-2030/health-literacy-healthy-people-2030) .
(https://www.ahrq.gov) 2. The Health Literacy Item Set for the Clinician & Group Survey (CG-CAHPS) 3.0 includes some questions about patient-
provider communication that were also in the Cultural Competence Item Set for the 2.0 version of CG-CAHPS. The remaining questions from the
Cultural Competence Item Set are not recommended for use with the 3.0 version of the survey.
Related Resources
For additional health literacy resources, visit AHRQ's Health Literacy site (https://www.ahrq.gov/health-literacy/index.html) .
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