Consumer Health Literacy Essay

Discussion 11
Nurses have the role of improving patient’s lives in a variety of ways. One of those ways includes their ability to read and understand health information resources, known as health literacy. Health literacy is defined 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” (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2018, p. 326). Health care providers have found that patients who understand their health have better outcomes than those who are inadequately informed (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2018). Promoting health literacy among our patients will improve outcomes. This fact should motivate us as nurses to further improve the health literacy of our patients.

I think one way we can begin to improve their health literacy is by teaching our patients which health materials are appropriate. One resource that I highly recommend is the website called up-to-date. I was just reading through up-to-date the other day at work and found that it was very easy to read. It broke the language down in a way that someone who is not a health care provider could understand it. I found it very simple, concise, and accurate. Consumer Health Literacy Essay  Our hospital gives us the right to access up-to-date. Sometimes, I will log in and print out education material to give to my patients at discharge. However, 99% of the time, there are education sheets printed out automatically related to the patient’s visit. I make sure to read over these with my patients and highlight the very important pieces. I try to encourage them to go home and reread it so that they can be more knowledgeable about their health.
Dr. Bass, a chief medical information officer and professor of Medicine and of Pediatrics at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, has found three steps that can boost health literacy (Bass, 2018). The first step is to be a good communicator (Bass, 2018). He states that a good communicator empowers the patient to obtain more knowledge about their health (Bass, 2018). The second step is to use teach-back (Bass, 2018). The teach-back method lets the health care professional know what the patient comprehended and understood (Bass, 2018). This provides the health care professional with another opportunity to teach if the patient may have misunderstood (Bass, 2018). The third step is to use plain language (Bass, 2018). Speak in a language that the patient can understand (Bass, 2018). Try to avoid any medical jargon and clarify when necessary (Bass, 2018). These three steps are very important and can really influence a patient’s understanding of their medical condition.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

Additional strategies for assisting patients in becoming informed consumers of online health information include consumer empowerment and education related to which sources are credible (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2018). Consumer empowerment is the concept of promoting self-actualization, which motivates the patient to take control over their life (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2018). If we can make our patients feel empowered, then they are more likely to take responsibility and control of their health. The other effective strategy is to teach our patients which websites are appropriate and which ones are not. For example, Wikipedia is not a good resource to rely on. However, up-to-date is a great resource, as well as Medline Plus. Medline Plus is more likely to be available to a patient than up-to-date is. I would tell my patients to use websites that end

Consumer health literacy

The discussion notes that health literacy is an important aspect of medical care. In addition, it mentions that nurses play an important role in improving health literacy through using their capacity to understand and translate medical information to improve the patients’ health knowledge levels and by extension increase to make healthy decisions. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (2012) similarly notes that health literacy is a precursor for achieving a culture of health in the process of improving healthcare and nurses are a convenient and available toolkit that can be applied to improve patient health literacy. McGonigle and Mastrian (2018) present similar sentiments, but add that nurses are primary health care providers who have much contact with patients. This places nurses in a unique position to using their encounter with patients to improve their activation, engagement and empowerment thereby maximizing health outcomes. Black (2016) acknowledges that although nursing personnel are well positioned and primed to improve patient health literacy, it is important they take on a precautionary step in assuming that every patient has difficult in accessing health care services and comprehending health information. Through engaging nurses, the education process gains access to a toolkit that that has the capacity to offer evidence-based guidance that supports patients, improves their understanding of health information, and decreases health care complexity (Black, 2016). Cherry and Jacob (2016) endorses the notion that nursing personnel are an important tool for health literacy, most of them do not understand the concept of health literacy. In addition, health literacy is rarely approached as an issue within health care systems. The implication is that there is a need to prepare nursing personnel to embrace the importance of health literacy, and to integrate their efforts with other available resources to improve health literacy skills (Cherry & Jacob, 2016). Overall, nurses have the capacity to reduce the gap between patient abilities and skills, as well as the complexities and demands of health care systems.

References

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (Executive Producer). (2012). Interview with Rachelle Toman, M.D. Ph.D. Rockville, MD: Author. Retrieved from http://www.ahrq.gov/patients-consumers/patient-involvement/ask-your-doctor/videos/clinician06/index.html

Black, B. (2016). Professional nursing-e-book: concepts & challenges. Amsterdam: Elsevier Health Sciences.

Cherry, B. & Jacob, S. (2016). Contemporary nursing: issues, trends, & management. Amsterdam: Elsevier Health Sciences.

McGonigle, D. & Mastrian, K. (2018). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4^th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.  Consumer Health Literacy Essay