Health Literacy: Determinant Of Health

To be honest, I’ve never given much thought to what the word, “literacy” means to me, or about the word itself. From what I’ve learned in my English classes, is that a word can have various definitions and meanings than a single one. The word literacy itself revolves around education and knowledge, it means having the capacity to read and write. For me the word literacy means having power, it is the accumulation of various skills I’ve acquired throughout my life and that I carry everyday. Literacy is used when I’m interacting with others and in the activities I perform throughout the day. It is not just having the ability to read and write, but being able to understand what I am reading and being able to express myself through writing. For

Information literacy is a crucial part of every career and contributes to one's professionalism and skillset. Developing information literacy skills involve acquiring necessary information and applying it according to the situation at hand. Being information literate is especially important in the healthcare field due to the advancements in technology and research that may improve medicine. With these constant changes, healthcare professionals must learn to find relevant information that can be useful and efficient in diagnosis and treatment.

Physical therapy most nearly illustrates particular health care professionals who diagnose and treat individuals of all ages. Those ages can deliberately range from newborns to the very old population, or in some circumstances become prominent with people who suffer from medical problems or health-related conditions, which limit their mobility. Physical therapist evaluate each individual and supplement a plan using strict treatment mechanisms to foster the ability to move, diminish pain, reinforce function, and prevent disability. In addition, physical therapists work with individuals to negate the loss of mobility before it occurs by initiating exercise regimes that encompass fitness and wellness oriented programs for healthier and more active

Health disparities are preventable differences in the burden of disease, injury, violence, or in opportunities to achieve optimal health experienced by socially disadvantaged racial, ethnic, and other population groups, and communities (Healthy Aging, 2017). An example of a health disparity would be if women were more likely than men to die from pancreatic cancer. Anyone is capable of having a health disparity. Several factors such as gender, age, social class, race, and where the person lives can cause one to inhibit a health disparity, lessening his or her chances of obtaining good health.

Through effective communication, communication that is articulate, slow can empower an individual to make decisions about their own care. Discrimination can happen when working with older ages because they are stereotyped to not being able to understand, and lack capacity to make decisions about their own care. It is important for the healthcare professional to adapt their communication styleso that information can be exchanged and understood. Therapeutic touch, slower pace,

Making appropriate health decisions depend on the patient’s degree of understanding of the basic health information and the strategies used by health care providers to assist patients with low health literacy levels. In the article “Experiences of nursing students in caring for patients with behaviors suggestive of low health literacy: a qualitative analysis”, written by Carol Shieh, Anne E. Belcher, Barbara Habermann in 2012, the authors describe the main topics that might affect how patients understand health information from the nursing students ' perspective.

Literacy was a concept I thought of strictly in academics and writing due to my background in school, but my understanding of its various forms helped me to positively change my friend’s life. As the years have passed, I have learned to appreciate my ability to understand different literacies. What I once thought made me two-faced, I see as a means for me to become a well-rounded

Patient centered care is an approach of forming a therapeutic relationship between care providers, older people and families, mainly focusing on the values and respect (lenus). Care of which is respectful to an individual’s needs, values, social circumstances, lifestyles and family situations by putting them at the centre of care is a priority. This is a way of thinking and doing things in a way of using health and social services as partners. Meeting the needs of the older person include personalising the care of preference, taking account the physical comfort and safety of the individual and Making sure patient has access to appropriate care when they need it. Involvement of families is important as the centre of decisions, whilst working along side professionals for the best outcome. Health care practitioners most see things from the older person’s perspectives by showing compassion when delivering care to the patient along side emotional support

2. The demographic trend associated with the emerging majority of diverse elders is due to the increase in the minority population, which will account for half of the elderly population. The aging population is increasing since people are living longer and this population is also becoming more diverse. As a result, the demographic trend will consist of an emerging majority of racial and ethnics groups that were once the minority group whom are of mostly elderly people.

“The Age of Dignity” is written by Al-Jen Poo, who is a director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) and co-director of the Caring across Generations campaign. The author discusses challenges faced by the elderly in society due to lack of supporting culture. She mentions, “By 2035, 11.5 million Americans will be over the age of eighty-five, more than double today’s 5 million, living longer than ever before.” It is necessary to value the care of old people so that people can age with dignity and security. To support the care of older adults, a culture needs to be built where elderly are respected in the society. The author provides various solutions to transform elderly care such as long-term care insurance and financial incentives to care providers.

The same verbal description of advanced dementia accompanied the video. At the conclusion of the video, each participant was asked the same question regarding preferences for level of care. Finally, health literacy was measured using the validated Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM) tool and three categories of health literacy were defined: low literacy; marginal literacy; and adequate literacy. Race, health literacy level, and preference for care after hearing a verbal description of advanced dementia were compared to preference for care after viewing the video. After verbal description of advanced dementia, African Americans were more likely to have preferences for aggressive care than whites. Also, preferences after the verbal description were strongly associated with health literacy. Participants with low health literacy were more likely to have preferences for aggressive care compared to participants with adequate health literacy. However, after the participants viewed the video, their preferences were statistically significant different (p<0.0001) than after hearing the verbal description: no whites and only 13% of African Americans preferred aggressive

Multiethnic health in Australian health care systems manifest the fundamental values of multiculturalism work inside the framework of health care, with certifying that the training of health professional has a strong and specific emphasis on building cultural competence and effectiveness, that is, the ability to work competently and effectively in a culturally diverse workplace and in encounters with people from different cultural backgrounds to ensure the delivery of best level of healthcare.( Australian Government. The people of Australia. Australia’s Multicultural Policy; 2011.) Cultural competence, (National Health and Medical Research Council. Cultural Competency in health: a guide for policy, partnerships and participation. Canberra:

Health is a basic human need and is a ubiquitous human aspiration. Unfortunately health is not equal and there are considerable differences in long term health outcomes between people from differing socioeconomic backgrounds. Health is not only the result of biological or genetic processes; it is also influenced by the economic and social conditions in which people live in. These influences are termed as the social determinants of health and they can influence health either positively or negatively (Siegrist and Marmot, 2006). Social determinants of health are not fixed and include things such as types of housing and environment people live in, the accessibility of education and health services, income level and employment type. These factors can all influence a person’s lifestyle decisions and health. Inequalities produced through social conditions bring about unequal and unjustified health outcomes for different social backgrounds. Health inequalities tend to be measured along a social gradient. Research has shown time and time again that there is a social gradient in health, which runs from the top to the bottom of the socioeconomic spectrum (Moss, 1995).

Clear and effective communication between health care provider and patient is one of the most important pieces of receiving healthcare. Communication helps to develop trusting relationships, relay patient symptoms to the physician, develop a care plan, reduce errors, and ensure patient participation. Lack of adequate communication, such as with the Limited English Proficient (LEP) patient, can lead to medical errors, disparities, and diminished access of this population to needed healthcare (“Health Centers”, 2004). LEP is defined as “anyone above the age of five who reported speaking English less than ‘very well’” (Zong & Batalova, 2015).

Health literacy in the elementary school setting impacts all levels of communication with families, students, and school administrators. My strategies to impart health knowledge have varied widely and achieved differing levels of success. In this paper, I will attempt to discuss the populations I serve and how communication needs vary among them.