Health literacy

Question 1

What is health litracy?

Answer 1

It is the ability of individuals to access, read and understand (comprehend) health information and to use this information to make INFORMED, WISE decisions.

Question 2

Levels of health literacy

Answer 2

1. FUNCTIONAL
   Individuals have enough health literacy to choose product and services for personal use, read and follow instructions on labels and have some knowledge of risks
2. INTERACTIVE
   Individuals seek to improve their personal skills and strategies to act on health advice. These people develop independence and take an interest in their health
3. L3 CRITICAL
   Individuals possess the cognition and skills (e.g. communication and investigation) to initiate social and political action for health outcomes. Individuals have an understanding of the determinant of health and seek to change the community for the improvement of health

Question 3

Health literacy skills

Answer 3

ACCESSING
Being able to obtain or retrieve information you need. Accessing health information includes selecting the most appropriate information; considering the validity, reliability and credibility.
READING
Once a consumer accesses health information they now need to be able to read it. Reliable health information can be quite sophisticated and which restricts the ability of many to read it effectively.
COMPREHENDING
Means to ‘grasp the content, to understand’. Being able to put into practice the health advice and understand how the health advice should be applied in a unique situation. Medical jargon can make comprehending information difficult.

Question 4

Self care

Answer 4

Self-care is looking after yourself or personal health maintenance. It improves and restores overall health and includes activities that prevent or treat disease.

Question 5

Disease management

Answer 5

“Disease management is an approach to healthcare that teaches patients how to manage chronic disease. Patients learn to take responsibility for understanding how to take care of themselves to avoid potential problems or exacerbation, or worsening, of their health problem”

To reduce the need for people with chronic disease to spend time in hospital and their reliance on health professionals, patients are encouraged to learn disease management principles so they can become empowered to manage their disease themselves.