The Importance Of Health Literacy

The biggest, most pressing problem in healthcare today that is a direct effect of poor health literacy is hospital readmission for African American patients with cardiovascular disease, more specifically congestive heart failure. Nearly 1 in 4 patients hospitalized with congestive heart failure (CHF) is readmitted within 30 days of discharge . Over 5 million people have CHF with an additional 550,000 diagnosed each year1. In fact, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in America and has been since the 1970’s (REF) with African Americans being

A healthcare disparity is a limitation of healthcare availability, usually among a certain racial or socioeconomic demographic (Black, 2013). However, there are disparities that don’t have a specific demographic and affect the entirety of the United States, which are potentially most detrimental to the overall health of our country. One of those disparities is health literacy, or the exchange of complex information from the healthcare provider to the patient or client (Black, 2013). The lack of health literacy in America poses as a problem, especially with the chronically ill. Without proper knowledge of how to treat their illness and what to do when the disease process worsens or ameliorates can potentially cause millions of unnecessary hospitalizations,

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

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

The Better Health Association is always looking for stronger ways to connect with individuals within our community. As technology has increased, individuals spend large amounts of time online or on their cell phones. Our goal is to develop an app which will allow a Better Health patient to access any time of the day 24-7. Benefits of the app will include tips on health education, which in return will allow the patient the opportunity to take preventive steps in taking care of themselves. I will deepen the leadership and management practice in order to strengthen the organization to fulfill our goals.

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

Many health professionals across the county can offer advice and strategies by highlighting actions that particular organizations or professions can take to further these goals of strengthing the system. All health care workers in every department work together in a linked and coordinated manner to improve access to accurate and actionable health information and usable health services. By focusing on health literacy issues and working together, this will strengthen the accessibility, quality, and safety of health care. It will reduce costs and improve the health and quality of life of millions of people in the United

What if every other person that received help from a healthcare provider left the health facility and did not comply with anything the provider told them? The patient did not take the medication as directed, if at all, did not follow-up in 2 weeks to ensure adequate treatment and never improved, or did not care for their surgical wound, leading them to being hospitalized for sepsis. What is the point in going to seek help, if the patient is not going to do what it takes to improve? As emphasized in the American Medical Association (AMA) video, nearly one-half of Americans do not have the skills to overcome the barriers to health literacy (2010). “Health literacy is the ability to read, understand, and act on health information.” (AMA, 2010) Taking this into consideration, who is to blame, the patient who did nothing the provider told them to, or the provider who did not ensure understanding of the information given to the patient nor emphasize the importance of compliance and risks? Patients do not visit healthcare facilities to cause themselves more confusion and continued suffering, they are seeking advice and assistance, trusting that the provider will be able to deliver care in the most appropriate manner no matter the circumstances. Although many of these health literacy barriers are out of the provider’s control, such as the inability to read or memory impairment, this does not denote that there are not many ways to overcome

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.

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

Furthermore, in order to educate the older adults, some teaching strategies are supposed to be acquired to enable them cope with their different deficiencies and still gather the necessary information they need to make healthy choices (Nair & Cienkowski, 2010). For health literacy to be efficient in the elderly, the nurses and health educators should always start looking at the history of their patients, short and long term deficiencies that they face, the effectiveness of their coping mechanism, what their needs are related to the cognitive functions, communication inadequacies, the amount of information they can take and how learning should be taught for different patients (Sabatini, et al. 2010). After all the necessary evaluation of the

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

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