The Institute of Medicine (2004) defines 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 decisions” (para. 2). This implies that individual skills, including reading, speaking and math skills, come into play anytime people make health decisions (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). The Institute of Medicine (2004) indicates that health literacy is also a health systems problem, because health information is often complex to understand and health systems difficult to navigate. This paper describes the individual and system causes of low health literacy.
Health Literacy and Health Literacy Tools in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes: A Mixed Method Study Introduction Health literacy is a vital component in effective health communication between pharmacists and patients (1). However, there is high prevalence of poor health literacy across different populations (2). Health literacy is defined by the Institution of Medicine (IOM) 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” (3). This definition was modified by Berkman et al. (2010) to “the degree to which individuals can obtain, process, understand, and communicate about health-related information needed
Illiteracy or poor reading and writing skills increases the amount of time it takes to absorb and react in the workplace. A person is limited in what they can accomplish without good reading and comprehension skills. The most important element in living a successful life is being literacy.The better you are in reading and writing the better chance you will have in your future career. In society reading and
Understanding health literacy and what it means is very important, especially if a person is a nurse or works in the healthcare system. According to Healthy People (2010), Health literacy means the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions. Patients that are at the biggest risk for low health literacy in our communities are patients the are part of our low-income communities, elderly, minorities and society members that have lower education levels. Unfortunately, the impact of low literacy on health promotion and health education is significant. Patients that have low health literacy are at risk for frequent hospitalization
Health literacy has been a major focus in the country for numerous years and is fundamental to health care reform. This is due to the fact that low health literacy is associated with poor health outcomes, higher healthcare costs and reduced quality of care. Health literacy refers to “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions” (Baker, 2006). According to the National Adult Literacy Survey, nearly 9 out of 10 adults have difficulty using the everyday health information that is routinely made available by physicians and other healthcare providers, and handed out in hospitals, health clinics, community programs, or accessed
Introduction Health is an important element throughout our life. A person’s health can be affected by many social factors such as gender roles and economic positions. As there are differences in health status between different populations groups, health inequality is then formed, for example, differences in morbidity and mortality rates between people from different social classes. In my essay, I will first define the meaning of ‘health’ from different perspectives. Then, I will talk about how social factors such as gender roles and economic positions determine a person’s health.
Information Literacy and Professionalism 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. Information Literacy as an Ethical Responsibility I agree that being information literate is an ethical responsibility in every profession, especially with the
To achieve an effective communication campaign to any health program, one must make sure first of health literacy. Health literacy is defined “as the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand
PRINCIPLES OF HEALTH EDUCATION This concept was taken from module 11”information, education, and communication”, sub topic 2”principles and methods of community health education”. Health education can be defined as a process that informs, motivates and helps people to adopt and maintain healthy practices and lifestyles, advocates environmental changes as needed to facilitate this goal and conducts professional trainings and research to the same end. The Joint Committee on Health Education and Promotion Terminology of 2001 defined Health Education as "any combination of planned learning experiences based on sound theories that provide individuals, groups, and communities the opportunity to acquire information and the skills needed to make quality
They should be able to solve their problems skilfully and make absolute decisions that should be healthy for them as well as for others. Life skill is a strong foundation for a healthy and successful development of a child. Life skills not only develop an individual healthy but it also contributes to develop inner resources to withstand the pressures of the daily life challenges and risks. According to the World Health Organization (WHO 2003, document – 9), skill based health education focuses on developing the knowledge, attitudes, values, and life skills that young people need to make and act on the most appropriate and positive health – related decisions. Individuals who possess these skills are likely to adopt and sustain a healthy lifestyle during their school years and throughout the rest of their lives.