Health Efficacy: Understanding The Consequences Of Health Literacy

A healthcare disparity is a limitation of healthcare availability, usually among a certain racial or socioeconomic demographic (Black, 2013). However, there are disparities that don’t have a specific demographic and affect the entirety of the United States, which are potentially most detrimental to the overall health of our country. One of those disparities is health literacy, or the exchange of complex information from the healthcare provider to the patient or client (Black, 2013). The lack of health literacy in America poses as a problem, especially with the chronically ill. Without proper knowledge of how to treat their illness and what to do when the disease process worsens or ameliorates can potentially cause millions of unnecessary hospitalizations,

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

Low health literacy has negative health outcomes for many individuals impacted by the unattained health information and teaching that has not been established. Many low literacy individuals do not seek needed treatment due to the cost, unfamiliar location, and the foreign procedures that may occur. Individuals that suffer from low literacy are more prone to the development of chronic disease like diabetes, hypertension, and heart failure.

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/

Disparities in health care are significant in the United States and the root causes are multifactorial. Social determinants of health such as poverty, socioeconomic status, access to resources, and patient education influence health outcomes. Emerging data has shown health literacy as a potential contributor to health disparities that impact health and lifestyle choices (Yee, 2017). Health literacy, characterized as a skill set necessary to understand health information, involves communication skills of both patient and health professionals as well as cultural factors. For example, low health literacy has been shown to contribute to health disparities, especially in racial and ethnic minorities (Hill-Briggs, 2012). As a result of an increasingly diverse ethnic/cultural and racial

Background: Health literacy presents a huge challenge in the delivery of effective healthcare and quality outcomes. We evaluated association between low health literacy and healthcare utilization.

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 is defined as "The degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions" (Michael K. Paasche-Orlow, 2010), the word Health literacy first appeared in 1974 in a paper which calls for “education standards for all grade school levels in USA” (Carolyn Speros, 2004) . Some recent works suggest that there is a relation between literacy, low health and premature deaths (Christina Zarcadoolas et al, 2005).

The United States’ healthcare reform has and still is going through systematic improvements and developments. Since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act - 36 out of the 50 states rely on the federal health exchange, which is also known as The Marketplace for its healthcare coverage. Texas is one of those states that utilizes this for its residents to research and compare coverage costs for any given provider. As evidence has demonstrated that patients who are involved in their health care tend to experience a superior outcome and decreased costs. As a result, numerous public and private health care organizations are employing strategies to better engage their patients, such as educating them about their conditions and involving them

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

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

Mitic and Rootman (2012), discuss six reasons why health literacy is important. First, approximately 60% of Canadians are unable to understand and make decisions regarding their health. Second, having a lack of health literacy can lead to having poor health outcomes. For example, if a person does not fully understand their chronic disease, such as diabetes, they may not have the proper self-management skills to cope with the disease which could potentially result in hospitalization. The second reason goes hand-in-hand with the third reason of increasing rates of chronic diseases. With a lack of understanding, people may not know how to prevent or manage the chronic disease causing it to escalate to something more serious and may result in death. Low health literacy can also lead to extra costs spent on health care. Mitic and Rootman (2012), state that the additional expenses “ranged from 3 to 5% of the total health care cost per year”. This is due to people having a lack of understanding and require more health care attention than someone who has a higher health literacy. Also, with the advances of access to health information, the terminology used is often high-level and hard for most people

According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (2016) health literacy is the extent of which a person has the ability to receive, process and comprehend basic health information necessary to make appropriated health decisions. Health literacy has a significant impact on patient education, health outcomes, participation in health promoting behaviors and patient self-management because if individuals can not understand the information provided to them they lose the ability to adequately take care of their health. The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (n.d) found that individuals with low health literacy are more likely to avoid vital preventative measures, like mammograms, pap smears, and recommended vaccinations.