Guidance from experienced teams for leading or coaching a team to put teach-back into practice.
Building Teach-back Confidence and Skills
3 Essential Elements of Teach-back
- Using words to show you are taking responsibility for being clear is essential to teach-back, especially by fostering a non-shaming environment. Click here to download.
- Asking the person, in a caring way, to explain back (or show back), using their own words what was taught helps reveal what they understand or remember. Click here to download.
- When someone cannot teach back, it is important to re-explain differently and check for understanding again. If they cannot teach back after several attempts, different support or an alternative plan of care may be needed. Click here to download.
Other Elements for Using Teach-back Effectively
- Avoid overwhelming patients, families, and clients by teaching too much that is not necessary at the time. Focus only on the vital few things people need to know or do. Click here to download.
- Including family members, caregivers, or other support persons in teaching and teach-back provides additional assistance to the patient or client when needed. Click here to download.
- Conveying respect and being aware of and addressing cultural and language differences are vital when using teach-back. Click here to download.
- It is vital to use words that are easy to understand and relatable, so people can focus on the message and not struggle with what is being said. Click here to download.
- Non-shaming open-ended questions help people feel respected and reveal more about their understanding or needs. Click here to download.
- Reader-friendly plain language materials support learning, sharing, finding and reinforcing information. Click here to download.
- Everyone in the health service or care continuum can further support patients, families, and clients in subsequent care delivery, plans, and settings when staff know how well people are able to teach back. Click here to download.
Coaching Teach-back Confidence and Skills
- It takes coaching to help people change from long-standing habits of explaining then asking yes-or-no questions like “Do you have any questions?” to using teach-back to confirm understanding via the patient’s own words. Click here to download.
- Use for baseline and periodic self-assessment of conviction about, consistency of confidence in using teach-back. Click here to download.
- A tool to assess use of teach-back for various purposes, including self-reflection, providing feedback on strengths of and opportunities for improving performance, and assessing competence. Click here to download.
- Describes various ways to use the Teach-back Observation Tool 2.0. Click here to download.
- An example of a teach-back Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) - an iterative, four-stage problem-solving model used for improving a process or carrying out change. Click here to download.
- Here’s a tool for planning, conducting, and analyzing a Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) - an iterative, four-stage problem-solving model used for improving a process or carrying out change. Click here to download.
- Periodically collecting your team’s ideas on what to work on and ways to make progress supports their continued engagement and learning, and accelerates change. Click here to download.
- An example and template for recording ideas from your team about what to work on and where to start. Click here to download.
- Helps prioritize among multiple ideas for what to work on next. Click here to download.
Teach-back Interactive Learning Module
This Module helps learners identify and use key elements of teach-back and plain language to promote health equity, safety, and quality, and advance organizational health literacy.
Learn more about the essentials of teach-back, and who, where, when, and how to use it.
10 Elements for Using Teach-back Effectively 10 Elements for Using Teach-back Effectively – Detailed Teach-back Job Aid 3 Essential Elements of Teach-back Use Words to Show You Are Taking Responsibility for Being Clear Ask the Person to Explain Back in Their Own Words When People Cannot Teach-back Accurately Other Elements for Using Teach-back Effectively Need-to-know Need-to-do Concepts Include Family Caregivers When Using Teach-back. Culture and Respect Using Plain Language with Teach-back Asking Non-shaming Open-ended questions Reader-friendly Materials for Teach-back Documentation and Interprofessional Collaboration Coaching Teach-back Confidence and Skills Coaching for Always Using Teach-Back Conviction, Consistency, and Confidence Self-assessment The Teach-back Observation Tool 2.0 Teach-back Observation Tool 2.0 - Considerations for Use PDSA Example PDSA Template Collecting Your Team’s Ideas for Creating Change. Collecting Ideas Example and Template Prioritizing Ideas for Change: The Decision Matrix - slides with how-to and examples