Dissertation
Implementation of written educational materials for geriatric patients in mental health clinic
Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.), Drexel University
16 Mar 2026
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00011365
Abstract
Patient education is one of the most important aspects of healthcare, yet poor health literacy is a widespread problem among adults living in the United States. A busy private mental health clinic with ten providers that collectively see close to 200 patients each day had zero written educational materials available to their patients. Therefore, a quality improvement project was implemented to establish the availability of written educational materials in the form of medication handouts and to facilitate distribution of these materials. Upon a comprehensive web search of existing medication handouts, zero were found to fulfill the site's needs. Consequently, project stakeholders developed site-specific, evidence-based medication handouts for three widely used psychotropic medications prescribed to older adults at the site. Each handout adhered to the essential guidelines cited throughout the literature pertaining to the highly specific and unique learning needs of older adult patients. The PDSA methodology was utilized for this project, and validated tools were applied to measure the understandability, actionability, and readability of the medication handouts throughout the process. These measures all showed improvement suggesting the medication handouts followed the evidence found in the literature meeting the specialized learning requirements for the older adult population. Additionally, the compliance rate of medication handout distribution was measured showing overall improvement suggesting an increased impact on the older adult patients at the site. Sustainability efforts will focus on the implementation of additional medication handouts, expansion beyond the English language, and the ability to send handouts electronically.
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Details
- Title
- Implementation of written educational materials for geriatric patients in mental health clinic
- Creators
- Ashleigh J. Shugars - Drexel University, Doctoral Nursing
- Contributors
- Barbara Ruth Osborne (DNP Chair) - Drexel University, Nurse Practitioner Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University
- Number of pages
- 58 pages
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Doctoral Nursing; Nursing (Graduate); College of Nursing and Health Professions; Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991022182273304721