Many people just don’t understand health literacy — it sounds like a foreign language to them. If you don’t know what it is, you’re not alone. Health literacy is essential because understanding health issues can be difficult without clear-cut definitions and instructions.

Health literacy is a crucial component in the complex healthcare system. Health literacy is focused on helping people make better health decisions by gaining an understanding of health concepts and how to find useful information.

 In this blog, I’m going to explain what health literacy means and then provide some specific examples of health literacy failure. Everyone should learn more about health literacy. Learn more about it!

What is the meaning of Health Literacy?

Health literacy is defined as the ability to be able to obtain, process and understand basic health information. The ability that individuals have to be able to understand the diagnosis their doctor is giving them, ability to ready pamphlets, medication use and so much more. It is an essential component of self-care, enabling individuals to make informed decisions about the care they receive and how best to manage chronic conditions for which there may be no cure. A patient’s ability to understand medical information can help them make better treatment decisions or be more successful in following through with recommended treatments.

The lack of health literacy is linked to lower rates of preventive care, early detection and treatment of disease, increased medical costs and worse patient outcomes.

Health literacy includes the following:

• Reading a prescription label.
• Reading and understanding nutrition labels on food packaging.
• Understanding instructions for taking medications including dosage, frequency, or duration of treatment.
• Understanding warning signs of complications from an illness or disease, such as fever or chills.
• Understanding instructions for doing self-care tasks such as taking blood pressure readings at home.

How does low health literacy affect people’s lives?

Health literacy skills are important for everyone but especially for people with low health literacy because they may have problems understanding their health care providers or reading medication labels.

People who have low health literacy may find it difficult to:

• understand written information about healthy living
• follow doctor’s orders for medication
• understand instructions for taking medications as prescribed
• take control of their health

Low health literacy has been associated with poor self-reported physical and mental health status; increased morbidity; worse outcomes after surgery; increased emergency department use; higher hospital costs; higher prescription drug costs; greater risk of falls among older adults; poorer medication adherence; and poorer functioning after stroke.

If patients don’t understand what their doctors tell them about their conditions or treatments, they might not follow through with treatment plans — even if those treatments are critical for keeping them healthy.

What are the ways to improve health literacy?

Health literacy is a critical component of health and wellness because it enables people to make informed choices about their health and wellbeing. In addition, health literacy can help individuals better understand their health status and what they need to do to improve their health.

Here are some ways that can improve health literacy:

1. Improve access: Health professionals should be able to provide information in a way that is easy for their patients to understand. This means providing written materials in plain language, using pictures and diagrams when possible, avoiding jargon or technical terms, and allowing time for questions from patients who may have difficulty understanding the information provided.
2. Learn about your health care. Learn about the way your body works and what makes it healthy. If you understand how your body works, you’ll be better able to make choices that will help keep it healthy.
3. Find trusted sources of health information. The internet is full of resources, but it can be hard to know which ones are accurate or trustworthy! That’s where we come in! We’ve got tons of great articles and videos explaining how to navigate the online world when trying to get information on health issues.
4. Get connected with others who share your struggles with health literacy. When we’re struggling, it’s always nice to have someone who understands what we’re going through!

    In short, health literacy is communication between you and your doctor or pharmacist about important health-related matters. It may also mean communication between you and your family or friends. It is also an ongoing process. Health literacy means that you can find out about your specific condition and plan the best treatment for yourself. It means that you can make decisions about the treatment you receive and what steps to take next should complications arise.

Health literacy is a phrase that describes the abilities and skills you need to understand health information to use it to make decisions and follow instructions.

For most people, being literate is not enough. They need to be able to understand and analyze data that is relevant to their lives. This means reading material such as drug labels and government websites, and educational material addressing a person’s family history and health. Everyone who strives to “be well” should adopt a holistic approach that includes not just eating well, but also the desire to learn more about individual health.

Follow my website, FB page and YouTube to find out how you can be more health literate! I strive to educate others to be able to understand more about themselves so that they can make better health decisions.