Low Health Literacy Research Paper

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

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

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

These special education children have now added to the economic burden of CVD (Zazove & Doukas, 1994). Health literacy plays a major issue (Baker, 2006) in the DHOH population, as the huge cost on the economy health expenditures is relevant to low health literacy (Laureate Education, Inc, 2011). Health literacy is a term used to define the ability to act upon medical or health information independently (Laureate Education, Inc, 2011). Likewise, the ability to completely complete demographic forms, commitment to follow up appointments, comprehend basic medical procedure, and medication compliance are signs of a person with health literacy (Laureate Education, Inc, 2011). According to CDC (2011), " the degree to which an individual can obtain, communicate, process, and understand basic health information and services to make appropriate health decisions" (p. 1). Therefore, the potential health consequence of low health literacy as it associates with CVD, apart from an increase chance of accidental death, is the rise in hospitalizations (Andrus & Roth, 2002). An increase in hospitalization increases the chance of miscommunication, barriers in cultural gaps contrition, and insufficient interpreter translations, among patients and doctors. Two decades of attention in the health care accessibility rights of DHOH

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.

The health literacy need chosen was cultural competency, a poster was made as the resource as many culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) individuals face a barrier in health literacy in which there thought process and reactions are different to those that are more use to the western healthcare system. The way CALD individuals view certain health problems such as death, recovery and certain diseases may not align with the western biomedical model as their culture may not be synonymous with Australian culture or they may have faced negative experiences in their previous health experiences (Holmes and Grech, 2015). The resource made attempts to responds to this health literacy need by trying to eliminate the fear of a cultural barrier between

Low health literacy coupled with the alarming increase in health care costs are two of most well-recognized problems in the U.S health care system. Thus, it is not surprising that current research has focused on the financial impact low health literacy has on the overall rising health care costs. Yet, this current body of research fails to recognize the importance health care literacy has on an individual patient’s financial outcomes and financial stress levels. By framing improved health insurance literacy as

How will you approach the topic of and then conduct a Health Literacy Assessment with the patient?

Shedding light on how health literacy and patient empowerment impacts medication adherence has profound implications for further research, the clinical practice as well as for health policy making. Let me briefly outline some of the potential contributions of the outcomes of this research project in the next

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).

“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

Only twelve percent of adults have proficient health literacy, according to the. In other words, nearly nine out of ten adults may lack the skills needed to manage their health and prevent disease. Fourteen percent of adults have below basic health literacy. These adults were more likely to report their health as poor and are more likely to lack health insurance than adults with proficient health literacy. Low literacy has been linked to poor health outcomes such as higher rates of hospitalization and less frequent use of preventive services. Both of these outcomes are associated with higher healthcare