Health Literacy Research Paper

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).

I really enjoyed reading your post. This is a good example of how poor health literacy can have a detrimental effect on a patient’s health. In a journal article the authors stated that health literacy is a strong predictor of a person’s health status (Schwatz et al., 2013). As seen in the AMA video and in the example that given here, it is clear that health literacy has a direct effect on one’s ability to make important healthcare decisions. Your example also reminds me that fear may play a big role in health literacy and one’s ability to make healthcare decisions. Making healthcare decision for yourself at time can be a daunting task no matter the culture, level or education, of background. It is so important that providers consider

An issue frequently debated by the legislature concerns funding of various social/public programs which include speech-language pathology services. As a child who suffered from an auditory processing disorder, and a future licensed Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP), I know all too well how important SLP services are for children. Currently, funding for social/public programs to include Speech-Language Pathology services in the United States is not adequate for children with learning disabilities and the legislature must act to remedy this.

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

The burden of chronic diseases in the United States claimed the lives of over 90 million Americans (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as cited in Parker & Thorson, 2009) with 2.9 trillion dollars spent on health care expenditures in 2013 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). In the United States (U.S.) Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death, which affects over 70 million people (Thom et al. 2006). The American Heart Association (AHA), estimated one in two women and two in three men are affected by CVD (AHA as cited in McKee et al., 2011). Cardiovascular Disease In the sub-minorities like the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHOH) population are neglected and disproportionately affected. The disproportion

In the profession of speech-language pathology, there are a variety of settings and clients with diverse needs to work with. One is able to work with not only children, but people of all age groups. Throughout my undergraduate program, I was able to gain the necessary skills in order to write professional reports for both medical and educational settings. The principles of formulating goals, establishing effective communication skills, and being flexible with your clients were among the many important skills I

As a child, I was faced with a lot of adversity. My grandmother raised my brothers and me. We lived on government assistance with little money and no car for transportation for extracurricular activities. The hardships we faced compelled me at a young age to stay in school, go to college, and make something of myself because I did not want to live a life limiting my dreams and opportunities. Throughout my academic career, there was not a specific moment that solidified my desire to pursue a profession in Speech- Language Pathology (SLP); instead, there were numerous. I initially became interested in this profession after learning how a child’s dysfluency was able to significantly improve. The gradual process of a client making substantial improvements

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

I chose this topic because I’m interested in studying speech language pathology or audiology in college and I don’t know much about it, so I wanted to take this opportunity to learn as much as I could about this subject. “Speech Pathologists require significant formal education”. “..Sometimes called speech therapists, assess, diagnose, treat and help to prevent disorders related to speech”. I also chose this topic because my cousin is hard of hearing, which caused her to have learning disabilities and fall behind in school but she took speech therapy to help improve her interactions with people and to help her get further in her educational career. She also uses American Sign Language and she now attends The School for the Deaf

For my research I have chosen to discuss the key role of a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP). Speech Language Pathologists can best be recognized as qualified practitioners that identify, diagnose and treat communicative disorders (Serpanos & Senzer, 2015). There are two types of disorders that a SLP can be used for: speech disorder and language disorder. A speech disorder can best be described as a person that has trouble producing sounds correctly or fluently. A language disorder is recognized as someone who has trouble expressing thoughts, feelings and ideas through speech. SLP’s are taught how to treat each pf these disorders.

“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.

The ability to connect through speech is an enormous gift of life, and the ability to communicate effectively is an immense aspect of life. The job of a speech-language pathologist is one that comes with a great deal of responsibility and dedication. As you are taking on the position of providing the skills needed for an individual to have successful communication in a way that best suits them given their personal conditions. In order to be a successful speech-language pathologist, a required set of skills is needed. Good interpersonal skills, the ability to take another person’s perspective and the ability to problem solve are three essential abilities that constitute a successful speech-language pathologist.

One of these challenges is the communication concerns that the SLP might encounter. The diversity of these individuals and at times the SLP not being able to communicate quickly with the individual can impact how the SLP functions in a specific environment. Moreover, the increased training for the speech-language pathologist can become a challenge, due to there being diverse individuals an SLP must always continue their education courses and training to provide quality service. Additionally, some challenges include communication concerns and enhanced training for the speech-language

Educational standards for American public school system children who struggle with various communication disorders cannot be maintained without an increase in the number of school-based Speech Language Pathologists. While the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires public school staffing of Speech Language Pathologists, access to such services continues to be compromised by the ongoing shortage of these school-based specialists. I have been inspired to apply to Speech Language Pathology graduate school partly because of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's efforts to lessen the shortage; without trained Speech Language Pathologists, children cannot receive the care ensured to them by IDEA.

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