Problems Experienced by Older Adults Who Have Low Health Literacy Skills

Health promotion brochure should be written at an appropriate grade level for the consumer to understand. According to Helmig (2006) The familiar brochures, tent-cards, checklists, posters, and newsletter, and mainstays of physicians’ offices and waiting rooms serve as important resources for patients, but they often do not speak to patients in a language they can understand ( p 82). The readability of this brochure according to SMOG is at a 10th grade level. Research shows that more than 20% of adults read below the fifth grade level. Examples in the brochure that would be difficult for the consumer to understand is under the heading “About your Diabetes.” This information is confusing and need more clarification to help the consumer understand and interpret the information that is given. According to Safeer & Keenan (2005), health literacy is basic reading that allows a person to function in the health care environment. The authors’ also stated elderly consumers are predominantly affected because of their reading and comprehension abilities are influenced by their vision and hearing status (p. 463).

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

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

Research shows that seniors with less education and from lower socioeconomic levels experience more disease, a shorter life expectancy and poorer emotional wellbeing. Additionally, Raina et al. (2000) explains that older men and women health is differentially susceptible to various health determining factors. For example, for older men, education has more effect, income and stress affects older women. The proposition is that health education is necessary to create health awareness and to increase health outcome among the seniors. Rowlands, Protheroe, Winkley, Richardson, Seed & Rudd (2015) study shows that low health literacy is correlated with greater use of medical services, less precautionary care, greater difficulty managing long-term illnesses,

A current pressing matter in the healthcare field is making sure that older adults understand their whole healthcare continuum. Older adults being illiterate on their health care is preventable reoccurring issue. There are many different angles for individuals in the healthcare field to limit this issue. This is sometimes not only related to a language barrier, processing issue, but sometimes a cultural barrier as well. Not all cultures understand widely held American medicine beliefs (Center for Disease Control, 2009).The Department of Health and Human Services, ( all of the D.H.H.S citation is from the article you sent me, still deciding which source to use.) article suggested a few options promoting more accessible information, addressing

This paper explores several articles; studies, programs and campaigns that report on results conducted both online and offline, in relation to health communication, specifically in minority populations and the aging in America. The paper also introduces subset definitions within health communication itself, and how each piece of that communication is affected by several limitations within the aging and minority populations. From what has been seen in recent trends, health literacy and adherence levels are poorest amongst seniors and minority populations. According to Andrulis and Brach, of the nearly 60 million of American adults with limited health literacy, almost 32 million are Non-White and/or Hispanic (2007, p. S122). The CDC (Centers for Disease and Prevention Control), Healthy People 2020, and Health.gov offer several recommendations to tackle this issue that not only affects health statuses because of the miscommunication, but drives up health care costs as well. This paper will break down the various components of health communication, address the issues it has for “special populations” in the United States, offer solutions based off of proven methods to increase awareness, point out limitations of studies and programs and a future study.

The problems associated with the health literacy have been identified by the researchers in the last ten years. They came to know the role played by it in the medical as well as the individual self care by the comprehension of information related to health and the outcomes related to it (Carolyn Speros, 2004).

“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

It can be a challenge to make a change in the health literacy of our patients I think with time it will make a difference. Health care professionals may not see the change now but with the availability of the internet and tele health, more people are getting exposed. The main problem is getting everyone to be literate that is able to read and write at least up to high school level. This has a huge part to play in health literacy.

Health care systems these days are very efficient. Everyone accesses the health care system if there is any health related problem. But the extent to which people in society can access health facilities available to them can vary depending on various factors such as health literacy and socioeconomic status. ‘Health literacy represents the cognitive and social skills that determine a person’s motivation and ability to gain access to, understand, and use information in ways that promote and maintain good health’ (World Health Organization [WHO], 1998). An individual’s ability of accessing good health care largely depends on the health literacy of the individual. Furthermore, Socioeconomic status (SES) is an economic and sociological combined total measure of an individual 's or family 's economic and social position in relation to others, based on income, education, and occupation. The effects of health literacy and socioeconomic status on older adult’s ability to access good quality health care are discussed in subsequent paragraphs.

In this study conducted by {Lindau, 2006 #2421} it is concluded that low health literacy influences cervical cancer screening knowledge. Yet improvements in health literacy are associated with health interventions at the primary health level {Cobigo, 2013 #2422}.