Low Health Literacy Skills

Improved Essays
Numerous clients in my area of expertise have low health literacy skills. A specific example observed was when an unconscious patient that being transferred to the intensive care unit needed the spouse to make her medical decisions. While obtaining the patient’s medical history from the spouse, it was evident the spouse lacked any medical knowledge. Numerous health questions were directed at the spouse and the main response given by the spouse was, “I don’t know.” For example, when asking the spouse if the patient had a history of syncope, diabetes, or any neurological problems, the spouse replied, “I don’t think so, but I don’t know what that is” and he looked forlorn. The spouse admitted that when it came to health issues, he was unaware

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    A study shows that people with low health literacy have a higher occurrence of Emergency Room visits, longer hospital stays, but fewer routine outpatient visits (Cho, Lee, Arozullah, & Crittenden, 2008, p. 1810). Low health literacy has an inherent level of unawareness in the necessity of preventative care on a patient’s behalf. Additionally low health literacy can be a cause of poor patient-provider communication, and lead to a lack of treatment compliance. Often patients with low health literacy do not know what questions to ask to better understand their provider. This is reinforced in the case study with the Pham family, when they do not understand all of the the terms that Dr. Williams is using and in turn have a difficult time processing the best approach to Duong’s healthcare.…

    • 910 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    According to the Healthy People 2020 initiative, communication’s role seeks to: support shared decision-making between patients and providers, build social support networks, deliver accurate, accessible, and actionable health information that is targeted or tailored, facilitate the meaningful use and exchange of health information among health care and public health professionals, increase health literacy skills and provide sound principles in the design of programs and interventions that result in healthier behaviors (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2015). The website also notes that proper health communication between provider and patient has the potential to improve health care quality and safety, increase the efficiency of health care and public health service delivery, improve the public health information infrastructure, support care in the community and at home, facilitate clinical and consumer decision-making and build patients health skills and knowledge (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2015). Good communication between provider and patient has the ability to eliminate health disparity related constraints that limit health care access, treatment and positive…

    • 925 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Hcr 386

    • 222 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Media & Materials in Health Education or HCR 386 played a role in my internship experience, although I did not work directly with media I did notice that some of the information that was given to patients and families tended to be easy to read and visually appealing. Other information seemed that it could be difficult to be understood by patients and families. One of the areas we discussed HCR 386 is that it is important that when information is produced that the reader can comprehend the material and should be at an elementary reading level. The positive side of the higher-level reading materials is that nurses can help explain any information that is not understood but if it weren’t for nurses and other staff information given could come…

    • 222 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    1. Additional counselors with availability to hold sessions with the individual more often. 2. When discharging from treatment for “meeting goals”, can these goals be re-assessed? 3.…

    • 156 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Introduction and Key Terms Approximately 300,000 individuals in America are members of an Amish community, making the Amish one of fastest growing populations in the nation (Diebel, 2014). Known within the health care sector for their strict adherence to a traditional lifestyle and “reluctance to seek preventative health care and delaying necessary medical treatment” (Brewer and Bonalumi, 1995, p. 494), the Amish are distinct from most other communities in America. Despite aversion to preventative health care, the Amish do seek out professional health services when necessary (Banks and Benchot, 2001), so it is imperative that health service professionals who work in hospitals and clinics near Amish communities have an understanding of Amish…

    • 751 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In 2006, the Yonkers School District hired Jeffrey Kirby to teach Health Education at the Pearls Hawthorne School which serves pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. Kirby used an icebreaker assignment to introduce the topic of Health and the Human Reproduction. Kirby invited several students to draw and label the parts of the male reproductive system on the blackboard. Amanda, a female student, who arrived late for class saw the drawings on the blackboard and asked to be excused for a bathroom break but never returned to class. After class, Kirby was summoned to the Principal's office where he surprisingly met with Amanda's father, Principal Campanero and Vice Principal Brown.…

    • 1178 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    There may be many challenges that present whilst assessing and building upon foundations of health literacy, however, through cultural…

    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Summary of “Health and Health Care Disparities: The Effect of Social and Environmental Factors on Individual and Population Health” Educational status, socioeconomic level, and health condition are in direct correlation to one another, according to numerous studies. These factors impact not only individual lives, but society and health as a whole. How is diversity changing healthcare? Diversity increases as the population of the United States continues to rise. Lower levels of educational achievement and an increase in poverty level living are a result of such a mixed society, as well.…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Atsi's Case Study

    • 1443 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (ATSI’s) Outline the nature and extent of the health inequities suffered by this group The contrast between ATSI’s and the rest of the Australian population in relation to health equity is the largest contrast that can be found within health statuses in Australia. This can be accounted for due to increased likelihood of ATSI’s experiencing disability and/or a reduced quality of life due to ill health. This inequity is clearly seen as currently Indigenous Australians tend to die earlier than non-Indigenous Australians and their death rates are almost twice those of non-Indigenous Australians.…

    • 1443 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Educating the Hispanic community assumes that the skills and knowledge are readily available and simple to understand (Wilson et al, 2005). The reality is that most medical educational brochures are written for English speaking patients and translated into Spanish and is often not culturally or linguistically appropriate to Hispanic organizations as well as the families and individuals that live within the community (Wilson et al, 2005). This inappropriately tailored brochure negatively affects a woman's health knowledge, preventive behavior, ability to navigate the health care system, and ability to care for their children. Interventions to increase a woman's heath literacy include written education materials with proper reading level and design, clear communication, and education to increase health knowledge (Wilson et al,…

    • 556 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Carter Owen 11/28/16 Health Being Health Literate Coach Pate What is being Health Literate. Being Health literate is being a critical thinker and problem solver, a responsible productive citizen, a self directed learner, and an effective communicator. Being a critical thinker or problem solver means to be able to make right decisions and to be able to solve problems that others can't solve. Being a responsible, productive citizen means to be a responsible person and use their time wisely.…

    • 506 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    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.…

    • 1447 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Patients, specifically from minority backgrounds, may present with limited health literacy. According to studies conducted, low health literacy predicts the likelihood of being uninsured (Adepoju, Preston, Gonzales, 2015). Consequently, it is important that nurses improve their ability to communicate with their patients and reduce the amount of jargon. To increase the understanding of at home treatment plans, and health care options the nurse should go through teach back techniques to assess whether the patient understands the information provided and what was not effectively communicated (Teitelbaum & Wilensky, 2009). Moreover, nurses should always provide equal quality of care to all patients, regardless of their race/ethnicity.…

    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Poor Reading and writing proficiency for Patients with diabetes lead to poor knowledge . low knowledge income is familiar among individuals with diabetes which results in difficulties in learning standards of self-care management skills to control glucose level , so that literacy is one of the most affecting factors lead to a maximum benefit of implementing self-care management for controlling diabetes (Kisokanth,Prathapan, Indrakumar, & Joseph, 2013). In addition , a lot of studies specified that self-care education for diabetes patients should be provided according to the patients educational level , that will be effective in matching their understanding level (Elliott, Abdulhadi, Al-Maniri, Al-Shafaee, & Wahlstrom,…

    • 983 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Communication in the health department is essential because without it, health would diminish significantly. The way doctors and patients talk to each other should be on a level that is simplistic and clear. In the article, Taking Medical Jargon Out of Doctor Visits by Laura Landro, she confirms that "Confused by scientific jargon, doctors ' instructions and complex medical phrases, patients are more likely to skip necessary medical tests or fail to properly take their medications, the agency says. " This reveals how comprehension between the patient and the doctor is beneficial in health care so that doctors could detect illness right away, lower health care cost, and prevent physicians from building law suits. The quicker efficient communication could be distributed among patients from doctors, the better individuals well being would be in low health…

    • 814 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays