Enablers And Barriers Essay

Barriers and Enablers When it comes to health literacy and older adults with cardiovascular disease, there are a few barriers that may prevent the successful outcome. The first barrier is not having the health information presented to them in a format that they can understand. Whether it be simple language or adapting the document to have visual aids which may provide a better understanding for them. Next, is not understanding how to navigate the system and knowing what is available. This barrier is an issue for most people, especially older adults. Not knowing where to look or what resources are available to them for managing their cardiovascular disease limits what they are exposed to. They rely on the healthcare professional’s thoughts …show more content…
First, with a lack of access to home support can impact how an older adult self-manages. Not having the care available to fit their needs, like having someone come and ensure they take their heart medicine, can enable an older adult to not adhere with their medication needs. Lack of social support can enable an older adult to not follow through with their treatment plan and they may not understand the severity of this. A social support provides appropriate coping skills and can increase health literacy, without it the older adult’s cognitive ability may decline causing a further detriment of their health. Finally, if an older adult is not an active member in their health care decisions, regarding their cardiovascular disease, they may start to disregard everything their healthcare professionals suggests and it is organized around the healthcare provider and not the patient. It has been shown that if a patient is more involved in their decision making for their chronic disease that they will feel more confident in their managing skills and communication with the healthcare provider. Without health literacy, they lack self-esteem in themselves, which enables them to continue mismanaging their cardiovascular disease (Cohen,