The Importance Of Health Literacy

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 literacy affects many individuals within today’s society. The amount of individuals that are unable to comprehend medication labels, medication regimens, and learning points from discharge teaching is shocking and result in further health related injuries (Koh et al., 2012). Nurses must take the important task of recognizing an individual literacy and comprehension ability before planning the individual’s care plan. The nurse must find out the ways an individual can receive information that

Sequist, Cullen, and Acton explain, “American Indians have nearly three times the national unemployment rate, and are less than half as likely to graduate from college” (2011, pp. 1967). With the low education levels that are common amongst this racial group, health care facilities need to make sure they are providing materials and teachings with appropriate fundamental literacy levels. In the book Advancing Health Literacy written by Zarcadoolas, Pleasant, and Greer, the authors describe fundamental literacy as, “The ability to read, write, speak, and work with numbers” (2006, pp. 56-57). As nurses, we need to be aware of others’ fundamental literacy to provide them with a sense of autonomy. If they are able to understand the materials they are reading, then they are able to make confident decisions about their care. In the nursing field, we provide many informational brochures, and are responsible for making sure our patients understand the plan of care. The text provided for our clients should be at an eighth-grade level, or personalized to each patient’s level. Nurses need to make sure they are conversing and explaining with no medical jargon, and allowing time for questions from the

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

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

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 %

The Australian government plays a vital role in promoting health literacy in the community. There are three levels, federal, state and territories, and local government that comprise a complex division of responsibilities (OECD, 2015). The fundamental goal of health care is to lesson disease and promote health (Australia’s Health,2016). One effective tactic is to embed the principles into health systems. (Vellar, Mastroianni & Lambert., 2016, p622) An excellent example is the successful implementation at Shoalhaven local health district (SHLHD), of a Health Literacy Framework between 2012 -2015. Methods utilised included the use of plain English in all healthcare information, training of staff across all disciplines and the requirement that health literacy be considered in all interpersonal communication. Patient feedback regarding the SHLHD has been positive. (Vellar et al., 2016). Therefore, the embedding of health literacy in to the policies and frameworks within a health service is an effective way of ultimately increasing the health care outcomes of patients.

To: Kaiser Permanente From: Date: March 8, 2024 Subject: Problem Definition: Health Literacy. This memo emphasizes the critical importance of health literacy and the urgent need for change to address the existing problem. Health literacy refers to an individual's ability to obtain, process, and comprehend health-related information and services to make informed decisions that can improve their overall quality of life. Despite the abundance of information available, many individuals need more skills to comprehend and apply it accurately. This issue affects individuals and has an impact on families, communities, and systems.

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).

Healthy People 2010 define health literacy as “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health care related decisions.” These are the skills that people need to find the right place in the hospital, fill out insurance forms, and communicate appropriately with

For many patients, language and culture set the background and context for the procurement and application of their health literacy skills. Health literacy is defined as the degree to which an individual is able to access, understand, and communicate information in order to promote and maintain their health [1]. However, a third of U.S. adults—77 million people—would have difficulty with common health tasks, such as following directions on a prescription drug label or adhering to a childhood immunization schedule with a standardized chart [2]. Limited health literacy has frequently been found as a strong risk factor for inadequate health knowledge, reduced self-care ability, increased morbidity, and mortality [3]. People with low health literacy tend to experience higher rates of chronic illness and are less likely to use preventive health services when compared to people with high health literacy [3].

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

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2015), health literacy affects each and every one of us every time we interact with any piece of health information. The last national survey administered to measure health literacy was done in 2003 via the National Assessment of Adult Literacy, and they measured individuals’ health literacy within three domains: clinical, prevention, and navigation of the health care system. This is important, because it reflects Singleton and Krause’s (2011) report that health literacy affects more than just an individual’s ability to understand their physician. In order to perform well in each domain, respondents would need to familiarity with basic health vocabulary, be able to read common health information such as a prescription drug bottle, and would need to understand how the health system works (insurance, making appointments, etc.). The results of the 2003 survey showed that 53% of adults have intermediate health literacy, 12% have proficient health literacy, but 36% (77 million) have basic health literacy. The remaining 5% did not speak English (National Assessment of Adult

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). Historically, health literacy had a subservient role in condition-focused care, and possessed an approach that lacked partnership, capacity building and thus empowerment. The significance of the relatively new and evolving concept was unveiled due to implications of suboptimal levels, and addressed through accessible education within the realms of nursing/medicine and primary/community healthcare (Egbert & Nanna, 2009). There are varying elements within ‘Health literacy’ with three platforms titled:

Communication in nursing is an essential skill which allows nurses to capably deliver effective and efficient care. Nurses being providers of health care must be able to recognise and prevent barriers that may occur throughout the communication process as their job is to primarily interact with patients in a culturally diverse workplace (Dwyer, 2012). Barriers such as health illiteracy and poor communication play an important role on the care that is delivered by nurses and other health care providers. In 2006 an adult literacy and life skills survey was conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), information collected from the survey had shown that 59% of the Australian adult population displayed low health literacy skills. This high figure indicates that nearly 6 out of 10 Australians over the age of eighteen may not be able to make appropriate