Patient Health Literacy

Patient education is an important aspect of health-care that is often undervalued. Education however, entails both active engagement by the providing physician or health care team as well as the patient. Patient health literacy, often defined as the ability for a patient to obtain, understand, and act on health information, is a key factor for patient education and is often a limiting factor. [1] Evidence suggests that adults with limited health literacy are less likely, on average, to ask their provider questions. In addition, patients with lower levels of education may be less likely to seek information on their own. [2]

Once provided with information, moreover, those with lower literacy skills may find the information provided to be overwhelming. …show more content…
One way to enable learning is to make room for more interactions focused on educating and giving patients the tools they need for self-learning. It is also the role of physicians to bridge the knowledge gap in patients who have poor health literacy. Certain behaviors such as limiting the use of medical jargon, visual aids, and teach-back have been shown to improve patient understanding. [7]

Other methods have also shown promise in improving learning in patients. In particular educational packets and multimedia programs have proven to be useful in those with poor literacy.[8] Not all patients learn the best from the same methods, however, and care should be taken to be flexible to a patient’s particular needs. Thus, effective communication should take into account the literacy of the individual as well as their preferences. Looking forward, the ideal health care system will focus not only on treating patients, but also on empowering them with the ability to better educate