Abstract
Research has shown the relationship between health literacy and chronic disease outcomes have been empirically linked to the patient's health needs, their understanding of information and the presentation of health materials (Shea, et al., 2007; Mark, 2009). Older U.S. adults, aged 66-74, who ranked their health as "fair", represented a large percentage of low health literacy patients (Rampey, Finnegan, Goodman, Krenzke, & Hogan, 2016). This project was an attempt to determine if a tailored communication approach would improve measurable outcomes in rural patients > age 65 with a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM2) who have low functional health literacy. The patient's functional health literacy was measured and then specifically addressed by tailoring the provider's communication to the patient. This provided the functional health literacy challenged patient with more appropriate education about their diabetes. The Chronic Care Model was a guide for the development and execution of this project, specifically the impact on the delivery system design aspect of the model.