Health information litaracy

Health  information literacy

Health literacy is the degree to which individual have the capacity to obtain, process & understand basic health information &services needed to make appropriate health decisions.

Health literacy is dependent on both individual and systemic factors. like

1. communication skills of lay people and professionals.

2. Knowledge of lay people &professionals of health topics.

3. cultures.

4. Demand of the health care and public health care systems.

5. Demand of the situation.

Health literacy is important, because

it affect people’s ability to

        * navigate the health care system, including locating providers &  services &  filling out forms

        *share personal & health information with providers                     

        *engage in self care & chronic disease management

        *adapt health promoting behaviors, such as exercising &eating a health diet

        *act on health related, These intermediate outcomes impact,

               *health outcomes    *healthcare cost   *quality of care

Persons with limited  health literacy skills,  have

                   * Higher utilization of treatment services (hospitalization, emergency services )

                    *Lower utilization of preventive services

  Higher utilization of treatment services result in higher healthcare cost             

Measuring health literacy

Tasks used to measure healthcare literacy

    1.clinical- filling out a patient from

    2.prevention- following guidelines for age appropriate  preventive health services

   3.navigation of the healthcare system –understanding what a health insurance plan will pay for

   4.proficient – can perform complex & challenging  literacy activities

   5.intermediate – can perform moderate challenging literacy activities

   6.basic – can perform simple everyday literacy activities

   7.below basic – can perform no more than the most simple & concrete literacy activities

Health literacy measures based on functional literacy do not capture the full range of skills needed for health literacy

Current assessment tools(for population & individuals )cannot differentiate among,

        -reading ability

        -lack of health related background knowledge

        -lack of familiarity with language &  materials

        -cultural differences in approach to health

The problem of limited health literacy is greater among,

1.Older age

2.Those who are poor.

3.People with limited education.

4.Minority population.

5.Person with limited English proficiency.

Many of the same populations at risk for limited health literacy also suffer from disparities in health status, illness(including heart diseases, DM, obesity, HIV, oral diseases, cancer, death and low birth weight)and death.

Person with limited health literacy skills are more likely to skip preventive measures such as Mammograms and Pap smears.

Persons with limited health literacy skills, are more likely to have chronic conditions and less likely to manage them effectively.  They have less knowledge of their illnesses(DM, Asthma) and its management

experience more preventable hospital visits and admissions.

The sources of health literacy

Internet , Magazines or Books, News papers, Family or Friends, Radio or TV ,Health care provider