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Books and Games Building Healthy Beginnings
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Health Literacy
There are many components of health literacy that factor into the overall understanding of how it is defined, how it affects us as individuals and as a society, and what solutions to the problem might be. The various materials here will provide you with a good starting place.What is health literacy?
Health literacy is the use of a wide range of skills that improve the ability of people to act on information in order to live healthier lives. These skills include reading, writing, listening, speaking, numeracy, and critical analysis, as well as communication and interaction skills. Health literacy allows the public and personnel working in all health-related contexts to find, understand, evaluate, communicate, and use information.(Calgary Charter on Health Literacy, 2008)
Why is health literacy an issue?
Because it affects all of us. While not being able to read well is an indicator of having low health literacy, health and medicine information is so complex that everyone may need assistance with understanding it at one time or another. Even highly educated individuals may struggle with written information important to their health and well-being when they are sick, stressed, or away from their support system. Health literacy is not just about written materials, however. Being able to hear and understand what health care providers tell us is critical. If the words that are used aren't familiar to a patient they won't be able to do what the doctor, nurse, or other provider tells them is important to do to get better. Besides, it is expensive to our country. What are the estimated economic costs of low health literacy?
- $73 billion in unnecessary costs annually (Friedland, Georgetown University, 2003)
- $106-$236 billion in unnecessary costs annually (Vernon, University of Connecticut, 2007)
