NR 449 Week 3 RUA - Topic Search Strategy - Hire 

Clinical Question

The clinical issue addressed in this paper is the impact of health literacy on disease prevention, particularly in the context of asthma in children. According to the CDC (2022), “Personal health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the ability to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others.” Health literacy plays a significant role in healthcare because individuals who do not understand health information may struggle to take proper care of themselves, leading to poor outcomes. A clear example of this would be a situation where a nurse provides a parent with a consent form for a blood transfusion for their child, but the parent does not sign it due to not understanding the form.

This misunderstanding could delay the blood transfusion, potentially harming the child. Factors such as education, health history, socio-economic status, age, and access to healthcare influence a person’s level of health literacy. Improving health literacy could reduce avoidable hospitalizations by 26%, hospital readmissions by 9%, and emergency department visits by 18% (United Health Group, 2020). The selected PICOT question for this paper is: “In children diagnosed with asthma, does low health literacy compared to high health literacy play a role in reduced disease management?” This paper aims to explore the differences in health outcomes for children with asthma and how their condition is affected by varying levels of health literacy. This paper will also discuss the search strategy used to identify credible sources on the topic.

Levels of Evidence

The PICOT question in this paper relates to the prognosis of asthma in children, focusing on how health literacy influences disease progression. Prognosis refers to the likely course of a disease. To answer this question, both qualitative and quantitative research is required. Quantitative research is necessary to measure the extent of health literacy in parents or caregivers and the resulting impact on the child’s health management. For instance, we need to quantify how health literacy levels influence the management of asthma symptoms in children. Qualitative research is essential to gather subjective data from parents, caregivers, healthcare providers, and patients themselves about how the level of health literacy has affected the child’s health outcomes.

Search Strategy*

The PICOT question in this paper focuses on two primary topics: health literacy and asthma. To address these, I began by searching for articles related to pediatric health literacy and asthma. Using the Chamberlain University library, I searched for “pediatric health literacy with asthma” and limited the search to articles published between 2017 and 2022, yielding 76 results. The first article titled “The Impact of Caregiver Health Literacy on Pediatric Asthma: An Integrative Review” was found, but the article link was broken. I then turned to the NIH Library of Medicine and searched again. I found 136 results and located the article at the top of the list, with free access to the full text. This article, by Abrams (2020), explores how caregiver health literacy affects pediatric asthma.

NR 449 Week 3 RUA – Topic Search Strategy

For the second article, I searched “asthma management in children” in the Chamberlain University library, filtered by publications from 2017-2022, and selected an article that complemented the group’s PICOT question. The article titled “Designing an Indoor Air Quality Monitoring App for Asthma Management in Children: User-Centered Design Approach” (Kim, Park, & Ackerman, 2021) discusses the creation of an air quality monitoring app aimed at improving asthma management in children.

Conclusion

In conclusion, health literacy plays a critical role in improving healthcare outcomes by helping individuals make informed health decisions for themselves and their loved ones. One way to address low health literacy is through evidence-based research, which enhances understanding of its impact on healthcare, particularly for children with asthma. The more we learn about health literacy and its influence on disease management, the better we can improve healthcare strategies and patient outcomes.

NR 449 Week 3 RUA – Topic Search Strategy

Table: Summary of Search Strategy