Health And Health Literacy: The Ethics Of Health Care

When it comes to health care the most important part is treating the patient and health care providers should be wanting to give their patients the best care possible. Patients have the right to govern their own body, autonomy, to choice which course of action they will take for their health (Paola, F., et.al, 2010). Legally and ethically it is important to make sure the patient understands not only what they are being treated for but also how they are being treated ("The Ethics of Health Care Reform: Issues in Emergency",2014). However, In America there is an issue with health literacy- low comprehension about medical treatment and medication ("Institute of Medicine", 2012). Low health literacy can make it difficult for patients to read signs in a hospital, read the pre-treatment forms, health insurance forms and even prescription bottles ("Institute of Medicine", 2012). This is due to the low reading level of an average American- 8th grade- and many Americans have broken English skills. Though many Americans have low reading skills, the forms given by doctors do explain enough information to the patient to make an informed decision about their health. It is important to assess how much information a patient need to truly an informed consent decision (video …show more content…
A physician tries to keep pushing their patient to go with the operation because legally health care providers need to do everything they can to save a patient 's life. However, it is the patient 's life and they have the choice to fight for their life or live out the rest of their life the way they want to. This is why it is important that when a physician tells their patient all possible course of action, they should include the possibility that the patient can do nothing but also explain the risk and consequences of not taking a course of action ("Impact of Communication in