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What Is Health Literacy?

Date: 11/06/24

Health literacy is the degree to which an individual has the capacity to obtain, communicate, process, and understand basic health information and services to make appropriate health decisions.

Why is health literacy important? Only 12% of adults in the United States have proficient health literacy skills, and 1 in 3 U.S. adults have basic or below basic health literacy skills. Limited health literacy (LHL) affects everyone, regardless of racial and ethnic group, or education level. Those with LHL often have trouble with common health tasks, such as following directions on a prescription drug label or deciphering childhood immunization schedules.

LHL is linked to poor health outcomes, including higher rates of hospitalization and less frequent use of preventive services.

Who is at greatest risk for having LHL?

  • Older adults
  • People with low-income levels
  • Racial and ethnic minorities
  • Non-native English speakers
  • People with less than a high school degree or GED certificate
  • People with compromised health status

Know your patients.

  • Up to 80% of patients forget what their doctor tells them as soon as they leave the doctor’s office
  • Not getting their prescriptions filled or not taking medications as prescribed
  • Nearly 50% of what patients do remember is recalled incorrectly
  • Consistently arriving late to appointments
  • Patients may not ask questions because they are ashamed to admit they don’t understand
  • Returning forms without completing them
  • Signs your patient may have LHL
  • Requiring several calls between appointments

Patients with LHL may make statements like:

  • “I’ll take this home for my family to read.”
  • “What does this say? I don’t understand this.”

Clearly communicate with your patients.

  • Use plain language when communicating with your patient
  • Keep it simple
  • Reinforce
  • Get help
  • Nebraska Total Care offers trained interpreters and written translation services

Always use the teach-back technique.

  • Ask the patient (or family member) to explain what they need to know or do using their own words.
  • If the patient is not able to teach-back correctly, explain it again and re-check.
  • Once the patient has explained everything to you, reaffirm the directions by stating, “Yes, that’s correct.”

 

Resource: Help Your Patients Understand Their Health & Health Care (PDF)