Health Literacy Is Considered A Motivating Factor Behind Wellness And The Absence Of Disease

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

The Australian government plays a vital role in promoting health literacy in the community. There are three levels, federal, state and territories, and local government that comprise a complex division of responsibilities (OECD, 2015). The fundamental goal of health care is to lesson disease and promote health (Australia’s Health,2016). One effective tactic is to embed the principles into health systems. (Vellar, Mastroianni & Lambert., 2016, p622) An excellent example is the successful implementation at Shoalhaven local health district (SHLHD), of a Health Literacy Framework between 2012 -2015. Methods utilised included the use of plain English in all healthcare information, training of staff across all disciplines and the requirement that health literacy be considered in all interpersonal communication. Patient feedback regarding the SHLHD has been positive. (Vellar et al., 2016). Therefore, the embedding of health literacy in to the policies and frameworks within a health service is an effective way of ultimately increasing the health care outcomes of patients.

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.

Decreased education increases participation in such activities as smoking, alcohol consumption and illicit drug use. It also results in medication misuse. Overall, studies have noted that health literacy creates significantly improved outcomes in terms of prevention and disease management. Health literacy is an important aspect to consider in terms of future policies since research has indicated that almost fifty percent of the Canadian population has inadequate health literacy. By cultivating health literacy and education, this can solve the disparities found within the Canadian healthcare system (Yamashita., Bailer & Noe,

Health literacy is defined in which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic information and services needed to make the right decisions about their health. Seeking medical care, taking medications correctly, and following prescribed treatments requires people to understand how to access and apply health information. Health literacy is being able to obtain, process, and understand health information to make the right decisions about health care. It involves using literacy as well as other skills to perform health-related tasks. According to a national survey, more than one-third of the adult population has limited health literacy, meaning they have basic or below basic health literacy levels. Limited health literacy

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

Health literacy is the ability for an individual to understand the necessary ways to treat and maintain potential illness, as well as the knowledge to achieve a healthy lifestyle. This may include altering the way in which the information is given to the client in order to best allow them to grasp the material being presented to them. Effective health literacy also includes providing knowledge to the client in order to allow them to make informed decisions, become aware of the benefits available to them, and learn where they can access the care they require (Massey, Prelip, Calimlim, Afifi, Quiter, Nessim, Wongvipat-Kalev, & Glik, 2013). By providing education to the client in a way they can understand and are comfortable with, the nurse or health care professional is greatly increasing the health literacy of the individual.

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 topic of health literacy seems to be a new topic on the scene. It does not seem to be talked about frequently in the social work field, let alone in every day conversation. Lacking health literacy affects many populations, including military recruits and veterans. There are many different theories about how to motivate patients to improve their own health.

My definition of health literacy has greatly changed during this course. Looking back upon my first post, I realize that I knew little of health literacy. After this class, I have realized that most adults have low health literacy levels and require instructions in simple form to obtain a clear understanding of the health materials. Health literacy is more complex than I had originally thought and it is challenging to modify the educational materials for the specific target audience. Strategic planning is necessary to ensure adequate learning for the special needs of the audience. I have learned that one must assess the audience’s psychological, social, developmental, and cultural influences prior to developing the educational material.

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