Health professionals (doctors, nurses, dieticians, pharmacists, physical therapists, health educators, and writers) use special words. You may or may not know what your words mean. Not knowing what these words mean could be detrimental to your health. This lack of understanding, or health literacy, is a huge problem in the US, and the numbers are staggering.
A National Survey of Adult Literacy found that 44 million Americans are health illiterate: they don’t understand words related to health. According to the Center for Health Care Strategies, 66% of Americans, ages 60 and older, have poor health literacy skills. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services say emergency room patients who lack health literacy are twice as likely to be hospitalized.
The American Medical Association (AMA) found that 90 million Americans do not understand what their doctor tells them. Worse, 42 percent of Americans don’t understand the words on prescription bottles. So you can see why the AMA and the AMA Alliance are working together to improve health literacy. What is it?
The AMA Council on Scientific Affairs defines health literacy as “the ability to read and understand prescription bottles, appointment slips, and other essential health-related materials necessary to function successfully as a patient.” In other words, you can read, understand, and use health information.
Even if you know a lot of health-related words, there are probably some you don’t know, words that affect your health. What can you do? The Association for Clear Health Communication says to ask three key questions:
1. What is my main problem?
2. What should I do?
3 Why is it important for me to do this?
Don’t be afraid to ask more questions if you don’t understand your health problem or treatment plan.
You can also request a brochure, flyer, reminder card, or diagram. Your medical center may have a medical library and you can find additional information there. Take advantage of the free courses offered by the center.
Enroll in a course on preparing heart-healthy meals, pain management, safe use of sports equipment, breast self-exam, preparing for surgery, and life after major surgery. Be careful with health information posted on the Internet. You’ll find a lot of information there, but make sure the information is reliable before you use it. Who is providing this information? What is your reputation? Can you find website reviews?
The AMA and the AMA Alliance are training health professionals and volunteers in health literacy. Your doctor may ask you to repeat instructions, for example. He or she is not doing this to make you feel bad, your doctor is doing it to make sure things have been explained correctly. Your doctor can give you a chart that tells you when to take your medicine.
Being health literate will help you manage your health and prolong your life.
Copyright 2007 by Harriet Hodgson
