Health Literacy And Its Effects On Hispanic Population With Diabetes

Lambert, V., & Keogh, D. (2014). Health literacy and its importance for effective communication. Part 2. Nursing Children & Young People, 26(4), 32-36. doi:10.7748/ncyp2014.05.26.4.32.e387http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.devry.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=2012573600&site=ehost-live

All clients possess a degree of health literacy, and like literacy, it is a human right. It is a client 's ability to understand written, spoken or numerical information, and make health care related decisions based on the information (Eadie, 2014). A client’s health literacy also has a social component, often being influenced by their socioeconomic status, immigration status and language

Individuals who display a greater level of health literacy do reflect significantly higher health levels and wellbeing. Moreover, those individuals who engage in a more weaker health regimen of health behavior and show a lower level of health literacy usually have a poorer level of overall health (Kickbusch, 2001). Individuals who reflect a poor level of health literacy may also have a more arduous time communicating with providers, locating medical services, and utilizing the needed self-care instructions necessary to maintain their proper wellbeing. Furthermore, any low literacy deficiency can ultimately lead to a series of adverse health outcomes, such as longer hospitalization stays, an insufficient measure of preventative care, low health status, as well as a higher mortality rate (Green, Gonzaga, Cohen & Spagnoletti,

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" (Michael K. Paasche-Orlow, 2010), the word Health literacy first appeared in 1974 in a paper which calls for “education standards for all grade school levels in USA” (Carolyn Speros, 2004) . Some recent works suggest that there is a relation between literacy, low health and premature deaths (Christina Zarcadoolas et al, 2005).

Healthy People 2010 define health literacy as “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health care related decisions.” These are the skills that people need to find the right place in the hospital, fill out insurance forms, and communicate appropriately with

Low health literacy can affect a person’s capability to share personal info with their physician and have the proper knowledge required to manage chronic-disease on a daily basis.

The term of “health literacy” defined as the ability to read, understand and then act on healthcare information to maintain good health (Department of Health, 2011).The concepts of “health literacy” can be divided into three layers i.e. functional literacy, interactive literacy and critical literacy (Nutbeam, 2000). The most superficial layer is the functional literacy, which defined as cope with the situation with sufficient reading and writing skill in every day. Intermediate layer is the interactive literacy, which defined as advanced skills such as cognitive, literacy and social skill is required to extract and apply the skills to change the circumstances through the social interaction. The inner layer is the critical literacy, which defined

On October 12, 2017, Joan Morris, MSHA, MBA, RN, spoke with LEND trainees about Health Literacy. Joan defined health literacy as, “the ability to read, understand and act on health care information”. Many influences impact health literacy, including environmental factors such as socioeconomic status, occupation, employment, income, social support, media, language, and culture, in addition to a person’s physical qualities like age, gender, vision, hearing, verbal ability, memory, reasoning, physical abilities, social skills, and metacognitive skills (Health literacy and public health: A systematic review and integration of definitions and models).

Defining health literacy is a complex task, because ofthe many variables that contribute to its meaning.Some ofthe variables identifiedinclude: reading and writingcomprehension, ability tointerpret medical information and make informed decisions, cultural and language barriers, accession andexpense of treatment and assailablepopulations. All these components, among others, diminish capacity for insight forin-depth understanding.The World Health Organization defines health literacy as the cognitive and social skills which determine the motivation and abiltiyof individuals to gain access to understand and use information in way which promote and maintain good health (WHO, 1998). The Institute of Medicines defines the concept as the individuals

Health literacy has been a problem with our patients. The most vulnerable populations are the elderly, people with low-income levels, those with limited education, non-native speakers of English, those with chronic mental and physical health conditions, minority, and immigrant populations. Nurses have a great role in helping our patients succeed in understanding their health conditions. Nurses can be of great help in promoting health literacy. Sykes, Wills, Rowlands and Popple (2013) defined health literacy as the ability of individuals to access, understand, appraise, and apply health information. The three domains of health literacy, according to Bennett and Perkins (2012) as adapted from the (WHO) (1998) are functional health literacy, interactive literacy, and critical health literacy. Functional health literacy is basic reading and writing skills to be able to function effectively in a health context. Interactive health literacy is the used of more advanced cognitive and literacy skills to participate in health care. Critical health literacy is the ability to analyze critically and to use information to participate in action, to overcome structural barriers to health (p. 14). The U.S. Department of Education published the findings of the National Assessment of Adult Literacy conducted in 2003. The result showed that 36 % of adults have basic or below-basic skills for dealing with health material, 52 %

There are number of different definitions of health literacy. However, health literacy is commonly identified as the level to which an individual has the capability to obtain, process and understand elementary health information and services required to make applicable health choices (National Network of Libraries of Medicine [NN/LM], 2014). According to National Network of Libraries of Medicine (2014), health literacy is

What is Health Literacy? First and Foremost, according to iHealth, Health literacy is an individual’s way of obtaining, processing, and understanding basic information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions. Many people never realize how much health literacy affects their everyday lifestyle. Simple things such as reading the back of a food label or researching health related issues on a reliable website are prime illustrations of health literacy. In the first scenario, a person demonstrates their ability to understand information that may negatively affect their health. Additionally, an individual researching their health related issue shows that they are able to obtain, process and understand their health issues. Therefore,

Health literacy plays an important role in individuals’ decision-making. The scope of health literacy does not limit to traditional medical perspective. It has extended from basic understanding of diseases and medication to all aspects that affect health. As one of the key social determinants, health literacy has huge impact on health and well-being. Yet, the influence is further associated with disease prevention, lifestyle, policy making, etc. This essay will first discuss the concept of health literacy and the consequences that link to it, and then give a strategy, designing user-centred messages in education, to improve health literacy, and the roles of health professionals.

Health Literacy resides beneath the umbrella of social determinants; aptitude in this form of literacy is a determinant of wellbeing, and influences vulnerabilities and capacities towards disease formation and prevention (Reading & Wien, 2009). Health literacy is considered a motivating factor behind wellness and the absence of disease but also for appropriate management with regard to chronic disease with maximisation of outcomes directly attributing to health literacy capacity. Historically, health literacy had a subservient role in patient care, regardless of health consumer capacity and possessed an approach that lacked partnership, capacity building and thus empowerment. The significance of the relatively new and evolving concept of health literacy was unveiled with the emergence of patient education through the patient centred care approach, but also in other realms, such as primary health care in the form of health promotion and unequivocally indicated a central role in health maintenance, disease prevention and management. Capacity regarding health literacy is considered influential regarding health outcomes and as such is regarded as a key determinant for health with individual rates of health literacy varying and depend on cultural/geographical, & economical factors. There are varying elements (WITHIN) that reside under the umbrella of ‘Health literacy’ with three platforms titled: Functional, Conceptual and Empowerment in conjunction with six main

Health literacy is the peoples’ understanding of the information about health and health care. As well as how the information is applied to their lives including making decisions and representing it. Health literacy is essential to people’s lives as it form people’s health including the safety and quality of health care.