October is Health Literacy Month
By Amy Kohanski
Understanding health information and how to navigate through the healthcare system is at the core of health literacy. Originally coined in 1974 to address the need for health education in our schools, the term has since expanded and evolved. Personal health literacy is an individual’s capacity to obtain, process, understand, and use health information. This understanding of their health information helps them to make better health-related decisions for themselves and for those they care for.
As healthcare moved from general practitioners to more specialty providers, it has become increasingly important for individuals to understand the treatment they receive. Individuals should not assume that the various providers know what treatments their other providers are recommending. People need to advocate for themselves and be able to articulate their treatments to their providers. This is impossible if they don’t understand what their diagnosis and treatments are.
Health literacy empowers people to make informed decisions, manage chronic conditions, and navigate the healthcare system more effectively, which leads to better health outcomes. Get Healthy North Country’s Chronic Disease Self-Management Programs (CDSMPs) help improve health literacy of the participants. As a result of going through a six-week program, participants are more likely to increase healthy behaviors and avoid preventable health issues, and therefore hospitalization and ED use are reduced. The CDSMPs also help people learn how to communicate with their healthcare providers, another critical component of health literacy.
There is personal health literacy and then there is organizational health literacy. Organizational health literacy is the degree to which organizations equitably enable individuals to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others. Healthcare organizations need to ensure that their patients understand what they are being told. What can your organization do to improve the way you disseminate health information to your patients/clients/consumers? Use plain language and the teach-back method to confirm understanding. Written materials should be at a fifth or sixth grade reading level. Ensure your staff are trained in health literacy and use these methods when talking with patients and sharing information.
It is critical that we continue to work to make health information easy to understand and the health system easier to navigate. To learn more about how the Get Healthy North Country Community Integrated Health Network is working to improve health literacy for individuals and organizations, visit gethealthynoco.org or get in touch with me anytime at akohanski@heartnetwork.org.
Amy Kohanski is a project director at The Heart Network in Saranac Lake, which facilitates the Get Healthy North Country Community Integrated Health Network.
