Rowlands, Protheroe, Winkley, Richardson, Seed, & Rudd (2015) conducted a study to explore health literacy skills in an English setting, bringing expertise from clinical practice, public health, and educators. The objectives were to assess a variety of health materials to determine the inception of health literacy and proficiency skills needed to understand and use for health purpose and to describe the English working-age population in relative to the thresholds. A competency threshold of 70% was adopted that reflects normal English practice and that similar to the US threshold of 67% (Rowlands, et al, 2015).
The study intent was to demonstrate that low health literacy is concomitant with poorer health and higher mortality rate and to establish that multifaceted health materials are barriers to health. The ideas were to assess the literateness and proficiency skills necessary to understand and use common used English health information materials, and to define populace skills in absorbing health information. An observational learning to compare health materials with national working-age population skills was implemented.
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The materials from topics within each structured area were autonomously sampled. All substances were available nationwide and publicly in health and public libraries and the internet. The sampled materials were individualistically assessed by external experts in areas of significance to health literacy and health trainers were included. 33 experts, which include 6 nurses, 6 General Practice, 6 hospital consultants, 5 dieticians/nutritionists, 2 National Health System managers, 2 road safety experts, 2health trainers, 2 health promotion experts and one public health consultant (Rowlands, et al,
I have learned that there are four domains of health literacy. Fundamental, Scientific, Civic, and Cultural. All four components play a role in understanding overall comprehension of health information. Not only for patients but for healthcare professionals. I didn’t consider one’s ability to read, write, and speak English will have an impact on the community. For instance, inability to read or understand simple discharge instructions will hinder one’s ability to make an informed decision about one’s health. Simple discharge instructions such as how to take care of self or even how to avoid the spread of illness. Consequently, this can have an impact on the community.
Health promotion brochure should be written at an appropriate grade level for the consumer to understand. According to Helmig (2006) The familiar brochures, tent-cards, checklists, posters, and newsletter, and mainstays of physicians’ offices and waiting rooms serve as important resources for patients, but they often do not speak to patients in a language they can understand ( p 82). The readability of this brochure according to SMOG is at a 10th grade level. Research shows that more than 20% of adults read below the fifth grade level. Examples in the brochure that would be difficult for the consumer to understand is under the heading “About your Diabetes.” This information is confusing and need more clarification to help the consumer understand and interpret the information that is given. According to Safeer & Keenan (2005), health literacy is basic reading that allows a person to function in the health care environment. The authors’ also stated elderly consumers are predominantly affected because of their reading and comprehension abilities are influenced by their vision and hearing status (p. 463).
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
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2008). America's Health Literacy: Why We Need Accessible Health Information. Retrieved from https://health.gov/communication/literacy/issuebrief/
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
“Health Literacy” a term to define literacy in healthcare. “An estimated 90 million people in the U.S. have difficulties understanding and using health information” (Hawkins, Kantayya and Sharkey-Asner, 2010). Low health literacy poses public health risks due to groups of people not being able to adequately care for themselves and stay healthy. This paper argues the importance of literacy as it pertains to health and also explores the various types of literacy that can impact how health information is received and understood from the general public.
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
Health literacy assessment should be performed with care and sensitivity, because the social implications of identifying a patient as being of low health literacy could be counterproductive. Currently, supported literacy assessments are often time-intensive and logistically challenging, with most requiring in-person administration. So the tools need to be clear and concise, user friendly and less time consuming. There is currently no commonly used tool that measures this knowledge. However, recent Australian research has been undertaken on the development of tools and conceptual frameworks that may better reflect the overall individual health literacy of a person, as well as their broader social and environmental contexts. These tools include
Lambert, V., & Keogh, D. (2014). Health literacy and its importance for effective communication. Part 2. Nursing Children & Young People, 26(4), 32-36. doi:10.7748/ncyp2014.05.26.4.32.e387http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.devry.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=2012573600&site=ehost-live
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
“It was estimated in 1998 that between $35-73 billion was wasted in prolonged hospital stays and frequent doctors visits related to low health literacy” (Ickes, MEd & Cottrell, DEd, CHES, 2010, p. 492). With all of the previously mentioned problems of poor health literacy, individuals who fall into these categories are also more likely to die at an early age.
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 model that I chose to investigate further is the conceptual model that addresses the relationship between an individual’s capabilities, health related printed materials, oral literacy and improved health outcomes (Parnell, 2015, p. 20). The defining attributes most commonly associated with health literacy are reading and numeracy skills, comprehending the written materials and the ability to determine what types of services needed and where to find them (Parnell, 2015, p. 19). Foreign-born individuals tend to have low health literacy and have even greater difficulty navigating the American health care system. They may have the following barriers that making utilizing the health care system more difficult, including inability to understand, speak or read English, have a lower education level, lack family support and lack of providers that speak their language.