Evaluation of Patient Education Materials for the SMMART Clinic

Author

Mariah Hedner Beckius, St. Catherine University
Aimee Lutz, St. Catherine University
Anna Restemayer, St. Catherine University
Emenet Sime, St. Catherine University
Kyia Wu, St. Catherine University

Date

5-2023

Research/Project Type

Project

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Occupational Therapy

Department

Occupational Science/Occupational Therapy

Advisor

Kimberley Persons, DHS, OTR/L, CLA

Abstract

Community health and health literacy go hand in hand. To better understand the extent of this in within their own community, a group of master’s students in the occupational therapy program at St. Catherine University examined the link between usable educational materials and the local community health clinic. Within the St. Paul community, there’s a strong partnership with the St. Mary’s Health clinics, their affiliate clinic St. Mary’s Medical And Rehabilitation Therapy Clinic (SMMART), and the university. The role of both medical clinics is to provide affordable and comprehensive care to underserved communities. A new element to this is the establishment of the Bienestar clinic under the wing of the SMMART clinic.

As occupational therapy students, we developed our master project with an emphasis on identifying barriers that exist in primary healthcare settings from the perspective of Latino individuals. When developing our project, we observed the SMMART clinic and conducted a needs assessment by interviewing the interdisciplinary team members, including but not limited to dietitians, physical assistants, physical therapists, and occupational therapists, and their experience working within the clinic. As a result, responses reported expanding resources for Latino clients. We created client education materials utilizing the Patient Education Material Assessments Tools (PEMAT) to promote readability and accessibility for Latino individuals through an online website with embedded toolkits specific to anxiety, depression, and sleep deficits. Many clients could access these toolkits through the Bienestar website to participate intermittently between therapy sessions to cope with their mental health needs.