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What is health literacy?
If your patients have ever filled out their registration forms or health questionnaires incompletely or incorrectly or taken their medications the wrong way, they may have done so because of limited literacy skills or because they were not familiar with the medical terms or concepts on these forms (American Medical Association).
Health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Healthy People 2010.
Did you know that according to the Partnership for Clear Health Communication...
- Literacy skills are a stronger predictor of an individual’s health status than age, income, employment status, education level, or racial/ethnic groups.
- One out of five American adults reads at the 5th grade level or below, and the average American reads at the 8th to 9th grade level, yet most health care materials are written above the 10th grade level.
- Low health literacy is an enormous cost burden to the American health care system – annual health care costs for individuals with low literacy skills are 4 times higher than those with higher literacy skills.
- Problems with patient compliance and medical errors may be based on poor understanding of health care information. Only about 50% of all patients take medications as directed.
- Patients with low health literacy and chronic diseases, such as diabetes, asthma, or hypertension, have less knowledge of their disease and its treatment and fewer correct self-management skills than literate patients.
- Patients with low literacy skills were observed to have a 50% increased risk of hospitalization, compared with patients who had adequate literacy skills.
- Limited health literacy increases the disparity in health care access among exceptionally vulnerable populations.
While people from all walks of life can experience limited health literacy, populations most likely affected are: the elderly, racial and ethnic minorities, people with less than a high school degree or GED, people with low income levels and individuals with limited English proficiency. Effective medical care can best be delivered by providing easy to understand information to all patients.
"They have no visible signs of literacy disability – you cannot identify them by appearance or casual conversation. They may be poor or affluent, native born or immigrant, and they are found everywhere. Health care providers treat them by the tens of thousands every day." (Teaching Patients with Low Literacy Skills. Second Edition by Doak, Doak, & Root, 1996)
The Link between Health Literacy and Cultural Competence
Culture affects how people communicate, understand, and respond to health information. Cultural and linguistic competency of health professionals can contribute to health literacy. Cultural Competence is the ability of health organizations and practitioners to recognize the cultural beliefs, values, attitudes, traditions, language preferences, and health practices of diverse populations and to apply that knowledge to produce a positive health outcome. Competency includes communicating in a manner that is linguistically and culturally appropriate. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Fact Sheet: Health Literacy Basics).
The Impact of Health Literacy
The lack of understanding can lead to:
- Medication errors
- Missed appointments
- Excess hospitalizations
- Adverse medical outcomes
- Malpractice lawsuits
Interested in training on Health Literacy?
Resources:
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