Implementing Ask Me 3 to improve African American patient satisfaction and perceptions of physician cultural competency.
OBJECTIVE
Improve African American patient satisfaction and perceptions of physician cultural competency through the implementation of Ask Me 3 pamphlet which encourages patients to ask questions of physicians.


METHODS
Intervention participants received the pamphlet prior to their visit with the physician. Analysis evaluated differences in patient satisfaction and perceptions of physician cultural competency between intervention participants and controls.


RESULTS
Intervention participants who saw their regular physician reported higher satisfaction. All found the questions to be helpful and reported knowing more about their medical condition or illness after the visit.


CONCLUSIONS
The Ask Me 3 pamphlet is a low cost and logistically feasible tool that could be readily implemented in medical settings to facilitate physician-patient interaction. Improved satisfaction with the visit was found when the pamphlet was implemented during visits with a regular physician. Thus, our research findings suggest implementation of the Ask Me 3 pamphlet has the potential to improve health care behaviors and health outcomes and may ultimately lead to a reduction in health care disparities.
Michalopoulou
Georgia
G
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Division of Child Psychiatry and Psychology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, USA. gmichalo@med.wayne.edu
Falzarano
Pamela
P
Arfken
Cynthia
C
Rosenberg
David
D
D001741:Black or African American / Q000193:education / Q000208:ethnology; D003142:Communication; D054521:Cultural Competency / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008824:Michigan; D008875:Middle Aged; D015402:Nursing Education Research; D010174:Pamphlets; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000208:ethnology*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013664:Teaching Materials