Health Literacy: Educating Individuals, Families, and Communities

by Sakiera Malone, MA, Virtual Student Federal Service Intern, Indian Health Service

October 30, 2019

Health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the capacity to
obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services
needed to make appropriate health decisions. October is Health Literacy
Month and for 20 years organizations around the world have been bringing
attention to the importance of making health information accessible and
comprehensive for everyone.

It’s essential that health care professionals are engaging individuals,
families, and communities to ensure that they can make informed decisions
about their health. The health care system can be complex and difficult to
navigate, so it’s important for patients to understand their health and
treatment information. Miscommunication can occur even with the best
intentions. For example, health care professionals may believe they’re
thoroughly communicating information to their patients, and patients may
believe they understand the information being provided or may feel
embarrassed to speak-up and ask questions.

Some of the difficulties among patients may include:

• Comprehending information such as test results and prescribed medication
• Accessing adequate health services due to limitations in transportation and distance to facilities
• Communicating with health professionals due to language barriers

Additional differences among individuals that may impact their health
decisions are age, culture, education level, and physical and mental
limitations. Low health literacy can contribute to poor health outcomes and
the need for more inpatient care. People with limited health literacy are
also less likely to engage in preventative care such as mammograms and
vaccinations and are more likely to experience high mortality rates.

How Can You Promote Health Literacy?

Along with 11 other agencies, IHS has participated in the Department of
Health and Human Services Health Literacy Workgroup to collaborate and
establish key priorities needed to improve health literacy.

Health literacy is important and there are many ways that we can get
involved in making health information accessible and comprehensive for
everyone. You can take action by:

• Downloading and posting the IHS
  Let’s TALK
  poster to encourage patients to talk to their health care providers about
  their health.

Utilizing the
Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT)
to assess your patient’s health literacy.

Browsing through the Health Literacy Tool Shed
to discover useful health literacy measurement tools.

Assessing health literacy
at your organization.

Taking
free training
to learn how to develop strategies for addressing low literacy in
public health messaging
.

Reviewing the
National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy
.

• Learning about what contributes to
  inequalities in health information
  .

Related content:

IHS Health Literacy

Health Literacy: Using Everyday Words to Support Wellness

Navajo Wellness Model: Keeping the Cultural Teachings Alive to Improve Health

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