literacy - Answers understanding, evaluating, using, and engaging with written text to participate
in the society, to achieve one's goals and develop one's knowledge and potential
numeracy - Answers the ability to access, use, interpret, and communicate mathematical
demands of a range of situations in adult life.
health literacy - Answers the capacity to obtain, process, understand basic health information
and services, make appropriate health decisions, and determine readability
proficient - Answers define medical term from complex document and calculate share of
employee's health insurance costss
intermediate - Answers determine healthy weight from BMI chart and interpret prescription and
over the counter drug labels
basic - Answers understand simple patient education handout
below basic - Answers circle date on appointment slip, understand simple pamphlet about pre-
test instructions
high risk populations in low health literacy - Answers elderly---81%
hispanic---78%
0-8yrs----96%
Immigrants with 0-8 yrs prior education----91%
why we need health literacy - Answers more than one in two adults cannot use a BMI graph to
find their healthy weight, understand a vaccination chart, and read a drug label.
outcomes of poor health literacy - Answers poor health status
less likely to use preventive services
delay using treatment services
more use of emergency room
more hospitalizations
spend more money on health care
more likely to have chronic conditions
poor management of chronic conditions
, become victims of fraud and quackery
red flags for low literacy - Answers frequently missed appointments
incomplete registration forms
non-compliance with medication
unable to name medications, explain purpose or dosing
identifies pills by looking at them, not reading label
unable to give coherent, sequential history
ask fewer questions
lack of follow-through on tests or referrals
7 tips for clinicians - Answers use plain language
limit information (3-5 key points)
be specific and concrete, not general
demonstrate, draw pictures, use models
repeat/summarize
teach-back (confirm understanding)
be positive, helpful, empowering
quackery - Answers commercialization of unproven, worthless, and sometimes dangerous
health products and procedures
---plays on peoples feat and desperation
---active and successful today
typical quackery victims - Answers teenagers/people concerned with self-image
elderly
immigrants with limited language and knowledge about health fraud
victims of life threatening diseases
very rich or the very poor
signs of quackery - Answers secret remedy