Assessment of the Health Literacy Among Arab Women in East Jerusalem

NCT03973606 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: HMO007819
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 306
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This is a two-stage study: The objective of the first stage is to explore health literacy (HL) needs and preferences of Arab women through conducting Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). The second stage will employ conducting a HL intervention tailored to the participants' needs and preferences as presented in the FGDs. Objectives include increasing the percentage of women who utilize patient-doctor communication skills and increasing their cardiovascular disease (CVD) knowledge.The intervention consists of four sessions that will be conducted in municipality-sponsored women's groups in Jerusalem and other Arab communities. Questionnaires will be completed before and three months after the intervention. The study answers the following: Can HL workshops improve patient-doctor communication skills and CVD knowledge in Arab women.

Conditions

Health Literacy; Cardiovascular Diseases

Keywords

Health literacy; East Jerusalem; Focus groups; Arabic Women

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (6)

• assessment of health literacy level and elucidate factors that will improve health literacy (barriers, incentives, etc.…) among Arab women in East Jerusalem

  The assessment will be done through conduction of focus groups. Focus groups will be audio- recorded, transcribed and analyzed using Systematic text condensation, a descriptive and explorative analysis strategy. Which consists of four steps: 1) total impression - from chaos to themes; 2) identifying and sorting meanings units - from themes to codes; 3) condensation - from code to meaning; 4) synthesizing - from condensation to descriptions and concepts. It is expected that six focus groups will be sufficient to achieve saturation of themes. If results are not sufficient, investigators will ask to increase the number of focus groups.

  within 6 months

• Change in cardiovascular disease knowledge

  A self report questionnaire based on the American Heart Association's Cardiovascular, and assess the knowledge regarding heart attack symptoms, by answering yes/no to each item.

  At baseline and three months after intervention

• Change in perceived efficacy in patient-physician interaction

  Will be assessed using the 10-item Perceived Efficacy in Patient-Physician Interaction (PEPPI) (Maly, Frank, Marshall, Diametteo, Reuben, 1998). Participants respond to each question on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 representing "very confident,'' and 1 representing "not at all confident". Higher scores represent positive outcome.

  At baseline and three months after intervention

• Change in remembering doctor's recommendations and reading blood test results

  A 2-item version derived from the Perceived Efficacy in Patient-Physician Interaction (PEPPI). Participants respond to each question on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 representing "very confident,'' and 1 representing "not at all confident". Higher scores represent positive outcome.

  At baseline and three months after intervention

• change in health literacy

  Will be assessed using the Health Literacy Survey-Europe-Q16 (HLS-EU-Q16) a 16 question research instrument adapted for use in Israel. Participants respond to each question on a scale of 1 to 4, with 4 representing "fairly easy,'' and 1 representing "very difficult". Higher scores represent positive outcome.

  At baseline and three months after intervention

• Change in preparation for doctor's visit

  A 6-item questionnaire represents preferred actions that participant\\pants do before their doctor appointment. The more items are selected, the higher the score is, hence representing a positive outcome.

  At baseline and three months after intervention

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Change in Self-Rated Status of Health (SRH)

  At baseline and three months after intervention

• Change in perceived efficacy in reading and understanding the instruction for taking medications

  At baseline and three months after intervention

Study Arms (2)

Arab Women health literacy focus groups

NO INTERVENTION

Arab women in East Jerusalem will be part of focus groups. During the focus groups, a set of pre-prepared questions will be presented to the participants. The focus groups will be recorded and analyzed verbatim.

Health literacy workshop

EXPERIMENTAL

Women from East-Jerusalem and other Arab communities in Israel will be invited to participate in a 4-sessions workshop designed to improve health literacy, self-efficacy when interacting with their physician and increase their cardiovascular health knowledge.

Other: Heath literacy assessment in Arab women in East Jerusalem

Interventions

Heath literacy assessment in Arab women in East Jerusalem OTHER

A 4-sessions intervention to increase the participant's self-efficacy when interacting with their physician and increase their cardiovascular health knowledge.

Also known as: Health literacy workshop

Health literacy workshop

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 85 Years
• Sex: female
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• All women aged 18-85 that attend and participate in the community's women's groups
• They must speak Arabic

You may not qualify if:

• Not in the age range of 18-85.
• Do not speak Arabic.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Hadassah Medical Organization: lead

Study Sites (1)

Beit-Safafa community center

Jerusalem, 95822, Israel

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Maly RC, Frank JC, Marshall GN, DiMatteo MR, Reuben DB. Perceived efficacy in patient-physician interactions (PEPPI): validation of an instrument in older persons. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1998 Jul;46(7):889-94. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1998.tb02725.x.

  PMID: 9670878 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Cardiovascular Diseases

Study Officials

• Donna Zwas, MD MPH

  Hadassah Medical Organization

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Director of Linda Joy Pollin Cardiovascular Wellness Center for Women

Model Details: A 4-sessions workshop to improve health literacy among Arab women in Israel, with pre-post evaluation.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 23, 2019
• First Posted: June 4, 2019
• Study Start: July 30, 2020
• Primary Completion: September 30, 2023
• Study Completion: September 30, 2023
• Last Updated: December 22, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-12

Locations

IL (1)