Assessment of the Health Literacy Among Arab Women in East Jerusalem

NCT ID: NCT03973606

Last Updated: 2025-12-22

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 306 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2020-07-30
• Study Completion Date: 2023-09-30

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.

Detailed Description

Arab women in Israel are at high risk of low health literacy due to lower levels of education and low socio-economic status. Health literacy (HL) refers to the skills and competencies enabling people to obtain and interpret health information and apply their knowledge to inform health-related decision-making. It's also defined as "the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, understand, and process basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions".

The objective of the first stage of the study is to explore health literacy needs and preferences of Arab women through conducting Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with women in East Jerusalem. Six different focus groups will be conducted at three of the six municipality community centers in East Jerusalem. Participants will be recruited through identified community centers.

Each group will meet once for up to two hours. The study will be explained to them by an investigator who has been trained in the administration of focus groups, and they will be asked to sign a consent form. Discussions will be recorded without the names of the participants (they will be instructed not to use their names once the recording begins). At the end of the meeting, each participant will receive a bag and pamphlets with information regarding women's health.

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

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NON_RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Primary Study Purpose: PREVENTION
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Arab Women health literacy focus groups

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.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Health literacy workshop

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.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Heath literacy assessment in Arab women in East Jerusalem

Intervention Type: OTHER

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

Interventions

Heath literacy assessment in Arab women in East Jerusalem

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

Intervention Type: OTHER

Other Intervention Names

Health literacy workshop

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

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

Exclusion Criteria

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

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 85 Years
• Eligible Sex: FEMALE
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Hadassah Medical Organization

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Donna R Zwas

Director of Linda Joy Pollin Cardiovascular Wellness Center for Women

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Donna Zwas, MD MPH

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Hadassah Medical Organization

Locations

Beit-Safafa community center

Jerusalem, , Israel

Countries

Israel

References

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.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 9670878 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

HMO007819

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id