Implementierung von Maßnahmen zur Stärkung der organisationalen Gesundheitskompetenz im Krankenhaus, Einrichtungen der Pflege und Eingliederungshilfe: Evaluationsergebnisse aus dem Projekt „EwiKo“

Organizational health literacy (OHL) represents an important component of patient-centered healthcare, organizational development, and employee orientation. The project “Development of health literacy in healthcare facilities (EwiKo)”, toolboxes, a tool database, practical guidelines for strengthening OHL, and a self-assessment instrument (self-check) for assessing OHL in healthcare facilities (hospitals, nursing homes, facilities for people with disabilities, and in plain language) were developed, tested, and evaluated.

The goal of the article is to present the survey results before (t0) and after (t1) the pilot phase (duration: 15–18 months) of the project EwiKo in the pilot facilities using institution-specific self-checks as part of the accompanying evaluation.

Prior to the intervention (t0), the needs for strengthening OHL were assessed by n = 43 members of the “Health Literacy Working Group” from n = 6 pilot facilities (n = 1 hospital, n = 2 nursing care facilities, n = 3 disability services) using self-checks (n = 3269 answered statements). To evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention, n = 22 members of the “Health Literacy Working Group” from n = 6 pilot facilities completed the self-checks again after the pilot phase (n = 695 answered statements).

The before–after comparison of the self-checks (t0/t1) showed an improvement in the extent of OHL across all OHL-standards in the pilot facilities. The greatest need (t0) was identified in Standard 3 “training of employees” (61.8%, n = 2,020). After the pilot phase (t1) only 33.3% (n = 21) of the self-check-statements were reported as “not or rather not fulfilled”. Results of the needs assessment (t0), 37.9 % (n = 1,239) of the self-checks-statements in all eight OHL-standards were reported as “not or rather not” fulfilled by the pilot facilities. The self-checks at t1, showed that only 23.0% (n = 160) of the self-check-statements were reported as “not or rather not fulfilled” across all piloted standards (n = 6).

Self-checks are suitable for identifying needs to strengthen OHL in various types of healthcare facilities. The t0/t1 comparison shows an improvement in OHL-level in all tested OHL-standards after the pilot phase, regardless of which action area the measures were implemented in. With the self-checks, it will be possible to assess OHL differentiated by type of facility and to monitor the success of the implementation process.