Importance Of Health Literacy In Public Health

Health literacy has been accepted a keystone for health care services. Health literacy can be defined as “the prescription to end the confusion” or a “degree by which a person can develop the capability to understand the fundamental health related information and services in order to make proper health decision”. Health and social care professionals should consider influences of cultural and conceptual knowledge in health-related practices (Lehmann & Abel, 2016). The concept of health literacy is not limited in the practice of health and social care professionals. It also involves awareness of lay person in accessing and utilizing health care services available for them.

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

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

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.

Literacy is the ability to read and write. This knowledge is typically learned through education. Some minorities aren't given these opportunities because they aren't provided in their home country. So when they arrive to America they don't have any knowledge of how to read or write especially things that maybe written in English. Health literacy is being able to understand "medical" language. This language and wording is used in prescriptions, food labels or typically by a health care provider. If a patient doesn't have any previous knowledge of health literacy they may be at a loss and unable to comprehend what their doctor is saying.

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).

According to Singleton and Krause (2010), health literacy can be defined as “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions” (p.

From the definition of health literacy provided in the case study, it is clear that the concept of health literacy encompasses assisting the public to obtain, process, and develop an in-depth understanding of basic health information and services that are often required to assist these individuals in making correct health decisions (CDC, n.d.). Health literacy is not limited to the issues of communication between healthcare professionals and patients, medication management, and informed consent; rather, its scope has expanded to include issues of communication skills, the level of complexity of health information, the cultural and linguistic appropriateness of the health information provided, and the public health infrastructure available to assist people in seeking healthy behaviors (CDC, n.d.). Public health literacy is an important issue that needs to be addressed to ensure optimal overall

Health literacy is an issue throughout an entire organization. From the moment when a client walks into the door and is asked about their insurance to the time that they have to leave with their prescriptions, there is the possibility of miscommunication.   The AMA-MSS Subcommittee on Health Literacy reports that people with poor health literacy are more likely to have more emergency room visits with many of them being unnecessary, more hospital stays, higher mortality rates and are less likely to be compliant with treatment plans (Spann). Issues an

By definition, health literacy is the “capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services. It is the capacity to make appropriate health care decisions and navigate the healthcare system” (Frasier 10.17.14). Though it is a first world country, thousands of people right here in America remain vulnerable to decreased health literacy. Among this group of people is an incredibly large

According to the most recent study of national literacy, the results showed that 29% of Americans have below basic ability and 14% have the basic ability to read writing. In addition, it also showed that many of those that took the survey that had an associate’s or bachelor degrees had below the basic level in health literacy. Low health literacy within patients creates a barrier in the comprehension of their treatment and with their health care provider/nurse. What is health literacy? Health literacy 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 (Polifko-Harris, 2011). As nurses, we want to provide the best quality and safest care to our patients. As part of our nursing ethics that we protect our patients and our job to ensure patients understand the education they receive when it comes to their treatment by using the “teach back” method to ensure safe care and receive better outcomes.

Health Literacy resides beneath the umbrella of social determinants; aptitude in this form of literacy is a determinant of wellbeing, and influences vulnerabilities and capacities towards disease formation and prevention (Reading & Wien, 2009). Health literacy is considered a motivating factor behind wellness and the absence of disease but also for appropriate management with regard to chronic disease with maximisation of outcomes directly attributing to health literacy capacity. Historically, health literacy had a subservient role in patient care, regardless of health consumer capacity and possessed an approach that lacked partnership, capacity building and thus empowerment. The significance of the relatively new and evolving concept of health literacy was unveiled with the emergence of patient education through the patient centred care approach, but also in other realms, such as primary health care in the form of health promotion and unequivocally indicated a central role in health maintenance, disease prevention and management. Capacity regarding health literacy is considered influential regarding health outcomes and as such is regarded as a key determinant for health with individual rates of health literacy varying and depend on cultural/geographical, & economical factors. There are varying elements (WITHIN) that reside under the umbrella of ‘Health literacy’ with three platforms titled: Functional, Conceptual and Empowerment in conjunction with six main

Health literacy has great implications for the older adults in the population. One implication is that the older adults may put off important screenings and tests. This is because as a lack of the proper health literacy skills, the older adults will not see the relevance or importance of these screenings and tests and thus will ignore them. This has been seen to lead to a higher incidence of problems that are related to diabetes.

Many risk factors for chronic diseases are now more common among the less educated than the better educated, (Scott, 2005). Patients have problems obtaining, processing, and understanding basic health information because they do not understand the jargon used by doctors. Patients with a poor understanding of good health may not know when it is necessary to seek care for certain symptoms. While problems with health literacy are not limited to minority groups, the problem can be more pronounced in these groups than in whites due to socioeconomic and educational factors.

Health literacy can be described as the degree to which patients have the ability to acquire, process, and comprehend health information and utilize assistances needed to make appropriate decisions in healthcare. It is dependent on the individual’s intellectual and social skills to gain access to appropriate forms of care that promote and support good health. Health literacy means more than being able to read a pamphlet given by the provider, and also includes the ability to make informed decisions. With a lack of understanding, patients may be fearful of asking questions because of the stigma associated with health literacy and, in turn, may sign documents before a procedure without understanding risk factors. In addition, a patient may be unable to follow discharge instructions that can lead to detrimental health consequences such as readmissions. I believe that health literacy is the single greatest threat to the quality and patient safety of health care today. A research study authorized by Aetna, a corporation that sells health care insurance plans, only 18 percent of all Americans surveyed were health literate (“Survey finds Americans' health literacy lacking”, 2015). With clear communication between nurses and patients, and implementation of educational programs for the community, patients will find a better understanding of care they are receiving, which will decrease the threat to safety and quality of care