The impact of health literacy on rural adults' satisfaction with a multi-component intervention to reduce sugar-sweetened beverage intake

Abstract

SIPsmartER is a 6-month behavioral intervention designed using a health literacy universal precautions approach that has been found effective at reducing sugary beverage intake in rural, low socioeconomic adults. The purpose of this mixed-methods study is to determine if health literacy status influenced participants' satisfaction and perceptions of each intervention component: small group classes, interactive-voice response (IVR) calls, personal action plans and self-monitoring logs. Of the 155 participants enrolled in SIPsmartER, 105 (68%) completed an interview-administered summative evaluation including 68 high and 37 low health literate participants. The quantitative findings show participant satisfaction with each intervention component was high (i.e. classes = 9.6, IVR calls = 8.1, action plans = 8.9-9.1, logs = 8.7 on a 10-point scale) and similar across both health literacy groups. The majority of qualitative responses were positive (81.8%) and code counts were comparable between literacy groups with a few exceptions. As compared with high health literacy respondents, low health literacy respondents more frequently mentioned liking the content and length of IVR calls, liking the motivational aspects of the personal action plans, and identified numeracy issues with the self-monitoring logs. Overall, applying a health literacy universal precautions approach is an effective and acceptable strategy for both high and low health literacy groups.