Description Of A Good Ole Boys And Girls

Health literacy empowers individuals with knowledge and understanding regarding health information enabling them to make informed decisions about their health care. Health literacy affects people of all ages, race and ethnicity, education levels, income and languages spoken. All individuals deserve the right to have access to accurate, easy to understand, reliable, valid information to make informed decisions about their healthcare. According to Baur (2011), Health literacy is the extent in which individuals acquire, assimilate and comprehend health information and services to make informed health decisions. This has become a public health mission in the Healthy People agenda of 2010 and 2020 (Baur, 2011, p.63).

Health literacy has been demarcated as the measurement of the individual’s capacity to obtain, understand and process simple health information. It is needed to make satisfactory health decisions and determine services needed to treat or prevent illness. Health literacy requires knowledge from many topics, comprising the patient’s own body, appropriate conducts towards healthy results and the difficulties to understand the health system. It is influenced by many conditions such as our communication skills, age, socio-economic status, and cultural background, past experiences, educational level and mental health status (U.S. Department of

Health literacy has been a problem with our patients. The most vulnerable populations are the elderly, people with low-income levels, those with limited education, non-native speakers of English, those with chronic mental and physical health conditions, minority, and immigrant populations. Nurses have a great role in helping our patients succeed in understanding their health conditions. Nurses can be of great help in promoting health literacy. Sykes, Wills, Rowlands and Popple (2013) defined health literacy as the ability of individuals to access, understand, appraise, and apply health information. The three domains of health literacy, according to Bennett and Perkins (2012) as adapted from the (WHO) (1998) are functional health literacy, interactive literacy, and critical health literacy. Functional health literacy is basic reading and writing skills to be able to function effectively in a health context. Interactive health literacy is the used of more advanced cognitive and literacy skills to participate in health care. Critical health literacy is the ability to analyze critically and to use information to participate in action, to overcome structural barriers to health (p.14). The U.S. Department of Education published the findings of the National Assessment of Adult Literacy conducted in 2003. The result showed that 36 % of adults have basic or below-basic skills for dealing with health material, 52 %

A big problem today in health care for many people is health literacy. Health literacy is when a person is able to understand and process medical information they are given. Having low health literacy can affect how a person understands, and uses information about their health and health services (Batterham 2016). Low health literacy rates lead to big issues in communication. Limited literacy impacts health behaviors, decisions, and ultimately outcomes. Many people have low health literacy which leads to bad health outcomes. Research shows that low literacy is linked with the lower likelihood of people being able to manage their own health conditions, and less access to health care services which can lead to poor health outcomes. There are many reasons people have low health literacy, A lack of formal education and poor reading ability aren't the only causes of low health literacy. Low health literacy is associated with a number of things like poor engagement in health services, health knowledge, and overall health status. People with low health literacy may feel ashamed and try to hide it from professionals and family members. Most health care professionals are unaware of the level of health literacy their patient has. (Greenhalgh 2015) There is a need to identify individual health literacy needs and address how to work on solutions to benefit them and whole groups of people. Differences in health literacy

Literacy is the ability to read and write, and it is based on different competency of individuals. Health literacy is a term that has been used in health literature for more than 35 years. In the United States, health literacy is used to explicate and describe the correlation between patient literacy levels and their ability to adhere with prescribed therapeutic regimens (Ad Hoc Committee on Health Literacy, 1999). Likewise, health literacy is also defined as the grade to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions (IOM, 2004) (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS], 2000). Health literacy is also influenced by individual literacy skills and individual capacities (Baker, Gazmararian, Sudano & Patterson, 2000). This study is important due to the high number of patients with difficulty interpreting and understanding common prescription drug labelled instructions. It can be inferred that

Only 15-40 % of the population in the U.S. are health literate (Kirk et al. 2012) and 14% of the total adult population have below basic/functional literacy. Of the total adult population with basic health literacy skills, 14 % of the population are men and 16% of the population are

Having a healthy population is becoming increasingly important across Australian communities (Baur, 2011). Health literacy is the cognitive and social skills, which enables and establishes the ability of individuals to gain access and comprehend the use of information, in ways that maintain and promote good

What does it mean to be “health literate?” Someone who is health literate is able to “obtain, interpret, and understand basic health information and services and use such information and services in ways that promote his or her health and wellness.” Health literacy is very important to a person because it can prevent them from becoming unhealthy but a person can also use their health literacy to influence other people. A person’s health literacy can become better and stronger as they grow older because they learn new things and become more experienced with types of health problems.

The definition of health literacy according to the US Department of Health and Human Services 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 (USHHS, 2016).In their most recent study of 2003, the National Assessment of Adult Literacy indicates that 50 % of Americans have low literacy levels and that these numbers haven’t changed much since their previous study in 1992. Also in 2003, they conducted their first study on Health Literacy which had similar results. Health literacy can be dependent on individuals and systematic factors such as the degree of communication skills presented by the person or professional, knowledge of health topics, culture, demands of healthcare or public health system and

The concept of health literacy was first originated in early years and it was recognised as an autonomous research field in 1990s (Andrew pleasant and Shyama Kuruvilla, 2008). The

Health literacy is both a consumer and public healthcare issue. As a health care provider, it is not only my responsibility to ensure that you understand your health and what is going on

To be literate means having the skills necessary to read and write, as well as having the ability to comprehend, interpret, create and communicate printed and written materials (UNESCO, 2006 as cited in Canadian Literacy and Learning Network (CLLN), 2015). Health literacy involves more than one's ability to read or understand words and numbers. It is context based and requires skills such as the ability to find, understand, evaluate and communicate health-related information to maintain and improve health in a variety of settings (CCL, 2008). An individual’s level of health literacy is also impacted by aging, social interactions, language, culture, and life experiences with health and illness (Noblin, Wan, & Fottler, 2012). Another key concept in relation to patient education is health information literacy which is defined as:

Health literacy is an essential determinant of health. Health literacy is the degree in which people have the ability to obtain process and understand fundamental health services and information in order to make informed health decisions throughout different phases of life. Patients who are better educated and informed about their options and who understand the evidence behind certain methodologies may have better health outcomes. On the other hand, low health literacy leads to many health problems. In fact, it seems to be the “single biggest cause of poor health outcomes” (Kickbusch 208). Low health literacy inhibits self-advocacy in health care settings. Patients with limited literacy cannot actively participate in health-related decisions

The world of health care is a complex and confusing environment even for the most educated person. Picture yourself as an 85-year-old woman who lives alone and on a fixed income. How will you get to the doctors? Who will help you pick up your medications? Who will help you make sure you take the correct pills every day, and help you understand why you are taking them in the first place? In the health care community we speak about having access to health care, however gaining access to care is only the beginning. One may gain access to care however, if they are health illiterate it is as though they have no health care at all. Health literacy and literacy are not to be used interchangeably. Health literacy

The strongest predictor of health status is health literacy; therefore, to promote safe self-management, health care professionals must take time to provide the adequate education to patients during their visits (Walden University Online Lecture, n.d.). Literacy is the ability to read, write, process information, and follow instructions as well as being productive in the workplace. On the other hand, health literacy is the ability to understand, retain, process health information so that he or she can successfully engage in his or her healthcare management plan (Laureate Education, 2011). With that said, having a graduate degree does not necessarily mean that a patient is literate in his or health problem; therefore, healthcare professionals should assess a patient's knowledge before concluding that he or she understands his or her care.