Health literacy

Health literacy has been variously defined and explained since the concept broke forth on the public health and social science scenes in the 1970s(7). Nutbeam defines health literacy as “The personal, cognitive and social skills which determine the ability of individuals to gain access to, understand, and use information to promote and maintain good health”(8). Health literacy is closely linked to but distinct from general literacy. The European Health Literacy Project (HLS-EU) states that…

For most older adults, low adoption rates for home-based health IT are not necessarily related to lack of technology access, interest, or skill. In 2014 The Pew Research Institute found that 59% of seniors (age 65 and older) report going online as compared to 89% of all adults. Pew also reports that 23% of seniors do not and have not used a cell phone. Wealth and education levels also correlate to higher levels of internet use in seniors. 90% of seniors with a household income of at least…

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…

their medications regimens, fully engage and participate in their treatment plans, as well as comply with protocols to achieve the goal of safe quality care (Tamura-Lis, Winifred, 2013). Health literacy, which is is known to be “the ability to understand written, spoken, and numeric information and to make health care decisions based on an individual’s interpretation of this information”, is a vital component that must be carefully considered by all healthcare providers when constructing…

Patients with low health literacy and chronic illness have extremely complex management needs. When patients cannot understand their instructions or cannot remember directions provided, management of their chronic disease is more difficult for both the patient and the health care provider (Parnell, 2015). Patients are responsible to do their own self-monitoring for signs and symptoms associated with their medical condition. An example of the self-monitoring would be with a client that has atrial…

Physical Therapy and Health Literacy Health literacy is defined as “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions” (Bilek-Sawhney, Reicherter, Yatta, & Duranko, 2012, p. 1). Individual with low health literacy are often individuals with language barriers, the poor, the homeless, the elderly, and people with medical problems. When a patient has low health literacy they have…

going in terms of their health such as what certain tests and conditions mean. The area in which literacy can be improved in this situation is scientific health literacy. Helping the patients understand what procedures mean, what certain technology does, and how to understand their diagnosis is important (Christina Z., Andrew P., David G., 2006). Many Somali women are unfamiliar with how healthcare works, they don’t understand the tests that are preformed, the solutions that health care…

importance of health literacy and correct communication and how the nurse demonstrated this while caring for Kate. It will then go on to look at the importance of the nurses, personal philosophy of practice and the ways in which she demonstrated this relating back to the three principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. Lastly it will discuss important reasons to provide culturally appropriate care for people relating this back to the nurse. This paper is relevant because its important health…

patients with kidney disease that seek care at Richmond, VA’s public housing on-site clinics will be assigned to a nurse case manager by January 31, 2018. 2. 100% of renal patient’s (in the program) health literacy will be evaluated during their initial visit with their nurse case manager or community health worker by one year of the program’s inception. 3. 40% of patients with renal disease will maintain a systolic blood pressure under 130 mmHg and a diastolic blood pressure under 90 for 6…

Literacy is defined as the ability to use printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one 's goals, and to develop one 's knowledge and potential according to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL). In colloquial terms literacy is the ability use reading and writing in the real world, and therefore there are multiple different types of literacies; political literacy, cultural literacy, digital literacy, and the list goes on. Is anyone capable of being fully…