From: Sandra Smith [sandras at u.washington.edu

 

 

Health Literacy is a "type" of functional literacy. It is ultimately about
how a person functions in health contexts. Easy-to-understand info is an aid
to functioning at a higher level. Understanding is a step toward appropriate
action. I favor Ian Bennett's plain language definition: "Ability to
function in the health arena."  This definition appropriately puts the
emphasis not on skills (reading & comprehension) but rather on what those
skills, along with social support and life experience, enable a person to DO
in the healthcare system and in health contexts at home and in the
community.  

 

It is unlikely that healthcare providers can affect much progress toward
patients' health literacy due to short, episodic encounters in stressful
situations, differences between providers' and patients' ways of thinking
and talking about health and illness and treatment, differences in their
experience of the healthcare system, and need to focus on the presenting

medical problem.   We need to look outside the healthcare system for more

effective channels. Home visitation is a possible channel - programs are
established in most states, home visitors are trained to provide all types
of social support, which may buffer negative effects of low literacy and low
health literacy.  They see clients for an hour or more at a time over an
extended period in their homes. They focus on personal goals, linking to
resources developing life skills.  It is likely that home visitors promote
health literacy in their usual work. With training and tools they could make
a significant impact. SS

 

 

Sandra Smith, MPH CHES

Health Education Specialist & Principal Investigator U of WA Center for
Health Education & Research 

Author, Beginnings Guides

800-444-8806  206 -441-7046

www.BeginningsGuides.net <http://www.beginningsguides.net/> 

sandras at u.washington.edu

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/healthliteracy/attachments/20061011/a222b409/attachment.html