...The cultural demographic groups that are most impacting the low literacy levels in healthcare are those individuals that are of Hispanic or Latin origin. This selective patient population consists of individuals that are from Mexico, South and Central America, Cuba and Puerto Rico. Therefore, these cultural characteristics are represented by their language, customs, and elements from their common ancestry (Caballerro, 2011). Moreover, many of these individuals stem from low-income families where adequate educational resources are often scarce and insufficient. This deficiency regarding receiving a proper education is reflected in the overall low literacy levels, as well as the excessively poor degree of health literacy that exists. Furthermore, the condition of poor health literacy not only affects the individuals domestic health status and their hospitalization experience, it creates and places an economic burden on select communities, as well as future...
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...HEALTH LITERACY, PERCEIVED MEDICATION BENEFITS, MEDICATION ADHERENCE AND HEALTH-SEEKING BEHAVIOUR AND MEDICATION ADHERENCE AMONG PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC ILLNESSES ATTENDING PRIMARY CARE IN RURAL COMMUNITIES OF IKENNE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, NIGERIA INTRODUCTION Background and Scope of the Study The main aim of any attempted remediation of a health problem of patients in a health system is to achieve certain desired health outcomes in the patient. These desired outcomes however might not be realizable if the patients are not strictly following prescribed treatment even when the health care professionals have performed their part effectively. The synergy of the relationship between low literacy, patient decision - making, and compliance with prescribed medication use makes it quite difficult to achieve the desired outcomes in medical therapy (Nutbeam, 2008, Atulomah et al, 2010) of overall increase in health status. Health literacy is defined as the capacity of individuals to obtain, interpret and understand basic health information and services, as well as the competence and motivation to use such information and services in ways that enhance their health (Institute of Medicine, 2004) Several studies have been have been conducted to evaluate peoples level of literacy and adherence to medication. Health literacy rates in developed countries have been conducted in the United States (USA), United Kingdom (UK), Australia, and Canada to evaluate the rate of health literacy...
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...Health Literacy: Key to increasing Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality Healthcare literacy is as essential as basic academic education. It enables one to understand the medical aspects of their body, along with pointing them in the correct direction regarding how to take care of it, illness prevention, and basic healthcare measures (Health Literacy, 2010). It acts as an important aspect in increasing patient safety and healthcare quality – both crucial elements of a healthcare organization and its functioning. However, a very alarming issue is that there exist a huge percentage of population, which has low health literacy, or is completely health illiterate. Although there have been various measures taken targeting this issue, there still...
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...Problem Statement Health literacy refers to a person’s ability to read and understand basic health care information so they are able to make informed decisions related to their treatment and care. Unfortunately, the Medicare population (comprised generally of those aged 65 and over) displays a large percentage of patients that are at or below the basic level of health literacy knowledge (see Appendix A for information regarding health literacy level by age for adult patients) making understanding complex prescription dosing regimens difficult and confusing. Low health literacy results in the inability of Medicare patients to understand their physicians’ instructions, especially for patients that are prescribed more than one medication. “Although...
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...Health Literacy in the Physician Practice By: Pauline Jakubiec, M.S., CPHRM Risk Management Consultant |Risk Advisory Solutions Health literacy is an important consideration according to the National Assessment for Adult Literacy when only 12% of adults are competent in health literacy. Nearly 9 out of 10 adults may lack the skills needed to manage their health and prevent disease. 14% of adults (30 million people) have below basic health literacy. 42% of these adults were more likely to report their health as poor. 28% were more likely to lack health insurance which now places them in the system (and in the office) than adults with proficient health literacy (Adult Literacy in America: A First Look at the Results of the National Adult...
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.... Health Promotion Pamphlet Critique Health Promotion Pamphlet Critique The function of a health promotion brochure is to present information to the community on different topics with the intention of improving the health and well-being of individuals through the implementation of health education. In order for a brochure to be effective, the message must be clear, precise, and totally understood by the individual. Some health promoting brochures can provide incentives to maintaining wellness promoting behaviors. Brochures outlining strategies for preventing diseases such as diabetes can provide information to attain a stable lifestyle. The information however, has to be properly presented to get those results. According to Jamison (2004) implementation of even one healthy behavior can have an ubiquitous health benefit, it is therefore suggested that suitably formulated health information brochures inform and encourage the adoption of healthy behaviors (p 262). The title of the brochure is Diabetes and it is meant to educate those who want to learn more about the disease. Source and Topic Diabetes is a major problem in the Unite States. The total prevalence of diabetes in the Unite States, all ages is 18.2 million people which accounts for 6.3% of the population that has diabetes. Of this only 13.0 million has been diagnosis and 5.2 million undiagnosed cases (Center for Disease Control). Diabetes shortens life expectancy by about...
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...Poor health literacy is a “silent epidemic” that challenges the functioning of the healthcare system. Low health literacy levels are associated with higher risks of hospitalization, inability to manage health conditions, poor health outcomes, and inability to seek proper treatment and understand options available (Palumbo, 2015). Those with inadequate health literacy are more likely to be poor and uninsured (Levy & Janke, 2016). According to a study done by Pati et al. (2010) concerning maternal health literacy, children whose mothers had poor health literacy were much less likely to participate in welfare programs they were eligible for. 12.7% of people in the United States are living in poverty (Semega, Fontenot, & Kollar, 2017), yet those...
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...understand the medical professionals and could not follow through with your own treatment. Many of the hospitals in our area feel that by providing an interpreter there will always be clear communication between the staff and patients. This is not so. We deal with many different cultures on a daily basis and are hard to communicate effectively. The words we use can mean something different to patients of other cultures and as nurses we need to remember this ("Cultural barriers to effective communication", 2010). The potential for misunderstandings increases when the languages are different, and translation has to be used to communicate ("Cultural barriers to effective communication", 2010). There have been many times when non health care...
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...adults with diabetes in the hospital setting and focuses on the related topics of health literacy and health education. The first section of this paper will discuss the relationship between these three topics. Next, this paper will outline goals of care, how nurses can work to ensure continuity of this care, and the transition of patients from the hospital setting to outpatient facilities. The World Health Organization defines health literacy as “the cognitive and social skills which determine the motivation and ability of individuals to gain access to, understand and use information in ways which promote and maintain good health” (WHO, 2015), making health literacy an important factor in the manage...
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...Health Promotions among Diverse Populations America has a population of wide diversity of racial or ethnic minorities. “According to the 2010 U.S. Census, approximately 36.3 percent of the population currently belongs to a racial or ethnic minority group: American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian American, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.” (Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC].) The narrative of this paper will take a closer look at the health of Hispanics or Latino population. The topics addressed will be the health status of Hispanics or Latino, Barriers to health and influencing factors, disparities that exits, and a health promotion approach. The Hispanic or Latino group is by “The OMB definition of Hispanic or Latino origin refers to a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race.” (Edelman, 2014). Hispanic/Latino make up for being one of the largest ethnic minority and quickly growing in the US. Poverty and lack of education or some crucial factors that affect the ability to provide health promotion within this culture. In 2009 the poverty rate for Hispanics increased to 25.3%, from 2008 which was at 23.2%, (Edelman, 2014). Poverty can cause poor health. Poverty can result in depression, high stress which can affect a person’s long term health. Lack of money decrease a diet of nutrition and healthy food...
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...Who doesn’t like user-friendly gadgets? I do. I want something that is easier to use and not hard to navigate around with. The concept of plain language is almost the same. Things get much harder for people who have very low health literacy when the language used are unfamiliar. These difficulties are pointed out on the CDC article which states that low health literacy can affect a person’s ability to locate health care providers and services, fill out health forms, and managing chronic diseases. This is why the use of plain language is so important since it makes it easier for most adults to communicate with providers and understand essential informations about their health. Plain language uses the words that are familiar to almost all of...
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...Among Persons With Limited Health Literacy Monica Doyle WaldenUniversity Low Health Literacy among Diabetic Patients Low health literacy is a significant barrier among patients with diabetes. Low health literacy is widespread among patients suffering from diabetes (Cavanaugh et al., 2009). It is linked to poor knowledge regarding diabetes as well as the difficulty to learn advanced skills of self-care required for improving glycemic control (Cavanaugh et al., 2009). In most cases, diabetic patients with low literacy are more likely to African American, older with lower income as well as educational attainment (Osborn, Cavanaugh & Kripalani, 2010). Additionally, this group has a less knowledge specific on diabetes (Cavanaugh et al., 2009). Low numeracy skill is common among diabetic ethnic minority groups (Osborn, Cavanaugh & Kripalani, 2010). Low health literacy, as well as numeracy, is widespread with approximately one in every three Americans affected (Osborn, Cavanaugh & Kripalani, 2010). Health literacy is essential for individuals to take control and manage own health. While considering diabetes, patients affected with low health literacy are faced with the difficulty to understand the disease, are less involved in self-care initiatives, and have inadequate glycemic control (Kandula et al., 2009). In self-management of diabetes, people are responsible for several activities, which become a challenge with inadequate health literacy. The activities include adhering...
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...IN HOME HEALTH CARE: PHT 7975. DR. SCOTT S. HARP, PT, PhD, DPT. JUNE 8, 2014 TABLE OF CONTENT Cover page.......................................................................................................................................1 Table of content...............................................................................................................................2 Types of communication in home health........................................................................................3 Comparing communication in acute care setting vs. home health..................................................4 Challenges physical therapy/physical therapy assistant team need to overcome in home health...............................................................................................................................................4 Timeframes for initial telephone contact and assessment visit.......................................................6 Communication challenges between different types of provider during transition of care............7 Documentation comparism between home health and acute care setting......................................8 Reason for documentation differences between home health and acute care setting.....................9 References.....................................................................................................................................10 TYPES OF COMMUNICATION IN HOME HEALTH Communication...
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...Assessing Health Literacy Kristin Greer The Christ College of Nursing and Health Sciences NUR150 March 28, 2011 Assessing Health Literacy When a registered nurse gets a new client, the nursing process begins with assessing the client. Initial assessment establishes a complete database for problem identification and care planning (Taylor, 2008). There are many issues that can come about if the initial assessment doesn’t consider all aspects of a client’s health including health literacy. United States Department of Health and Human Services defined the term 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 decisions” (Cornett, 2009, p.2). Health literacy is a key concept for a nurse to understand to perform adequate client assessments to enhance client outcome. The client has the right to understand health literacy in order to obtain, use, and interpret their given medical instructions for the follow-up of their treatments. Baker argues that it is unfortunate that patients with limited health literacy are often considered noncompliant, when the real problem is a low level of health literacy (as cited in Cornett, 2009, p. 1). During care the nurse needs to obtain methods to assess the client’s health literacy level to address any low health literacy issues. Methods to assess a patient’s health literacy can be very simple but also can be technically...
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...1 An Analysis of African American Culture in the Health and Human Services Setting Introduction Communication has often been defined by scholar as the process by which people send messages and generate meanings across various contexts, cultures, and media. The process of communicating does not stop; it occurs cycle after cycle. Whether through verbal or non-verbal messages, the transaction takes place and is inevitable, named by scholars as The Principle of Communication Inevitability. Recognizing that communication will exist, whether intentional or not, it is important to understand the various areas of our life where communication may be vital to the success of the structure. One important area is focused on human welfare—medical, physical, emotionally, mentally, and financially—of children and adults. The method in which health and human service workers communicate with the people whom they serve is one that must be studied, implemented, and constantly improved. Health and human service workers are focused on the quality of life for an individual. They are not present to meet the wants out of life. The ultimate focus is rendering services that are conducive to one’s ability to live. Whether communicating good or bad news, professionals, patients, and clients have mutual responsibility for effective sending and receiving messages. People belong to certain demographics that shape who they are, how they feel, how they learn, their exposure to certain aspects of life...
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