A vital aspect of life is taking care of oneself. But more than that, we should be able to give or receive information that can be interpreted to recognize, treat, and prevent any emerging health issues. The term for this is health literacy.
Health literacy is essential because it enables people to obtain the most effective medical treatment and services, whether they are living with a chronic disease or health issue or just trying to keep up their overall wellness. It’s essential to communicate any health concerns properly. Patients must be willing to honestly discuss their medical problems and precisely describe any symptoms. One element is knowing how to ask questions and appreciating medical information.
Even people who are good at finding services and filling out forms may have trouble with health documents. Self-care and managing serious illnesses might be more difficult tasks. Some people may not be able to understand medical terminology, grasp numbers, or weigh risks and benefits. Upon receiving a serious prognosis, being perplexed and afraid might also impede one’s understanding of health concerns.
People who don’t know much about health care may have a health problem take over because of the stress they’re under or how complicated the health care system is. Everyone is affected by not knowing enough about health, but the elderly and people with long-term illnesses are especially at risk.
On average, adults with low health literacy have:
- Lack of understanding of their medical conditions
- More or less use of healthcare services than otherwise needed
- Haphazard self-management of disease
- Poorer health outcomes
Inadequate health literacy has a significant impact on healthcare disparities. Health literacy is usually a stronger gauge of wellness than race, socioeconomic class, or level of education (Berkman et al. 2011). Lack of health literacy has widespread impacts.
Everyone needs health literacy skills to find and get care, prevent some health problems, treat those that do happen, talk about health concerns, understand options, and make choices based on what they know.
===
This article was written by HAMZA ATHAR, an MBBS( bachelor of medicine, bachelor of surgery) student at QUAID-E-AZAM medical college, Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
REFERENCES:
Berkman ND, Sheridan SL, Donahue KE, Halpern DJ, Crotty K. Low health literacy and health outcomes: an updated systematic review. Ann Intern Med. 2011;155(2):97-107.
“Health Literacy.” Health Literacy | Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, www.safetyandquality.gov.au/our-work/patient-and-consumer-centred-care/health-literacy.
Mesrobian, Carrie. “What Is Health Literacy and Why Is It So Important?” Rasmussen University, 31 Jan. 2022, www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/health-sciences/blog/importance-of-health-literacy/.
Risher, Brittany. “The Benefits of a Healthy Lifestyle.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 9 Mar. 2023, www.healthline.com/health/fitness-nutrition/healthy-lifestyle-benefits#drawbacks.
===
Interested in teaching medical literacy pain free? Shop medical literacy resources!
You may also be interested in the following articles:
Four Cs of Medical Literacy: Comprehension, Conversation, Communication, Collaboration
What is the difference between medical literacy and health literacy?
Why is health literacy important?
How to Improve Health Literacy
 |
 |
|---|---|
 |
 |
