Question

Explain, how can Patient education help combat health illiteracy? 150 words

Answer 1

Explain, how can Patient education help combat health illiteracy?

• Health is a state which means it is ever changing.
• Every individual knows about their health better than anyone else, so a slight change in healt status can be easily recognized by an individual to seek immediate action.
• An individual’s health literacy refers to their ability to access, understand and apply information to make effective decisions about their health and healthcare.
• The Teach-back method can be used during consultations to improve patient recall and understanding. Using Teach-back has been shown to improve patients’ health outcomes including HbA1c control and inhaler technique .
• Other simple evidence-based approaches to improving recall and understanding include:
  • encouraging patients to repeat instructions out loud to a listener
  • expressing directions specificity, “you must take one week off work” as opposed to “you need to rest”
  • using plain language rather than medical jargon
  • sitting face-to-face with patients
  • using simple diagrams and pictures, and
  • repeating directions ultiple times
• The outcome would be
  • Less risk of adverse health events
  • More knowledge about their own health
  • More adherence to medication
  • Change in lifestyle
  • More knowledge about the importance of preventative health
  • Can be able to participate in chronic disease self management
  • Less rates of depression
  • spend less on health care and medicines.
• Effective communication between health care providers and patients can improve health outcomes in both patients with low and high health literacy.