Hello friends!
How many of us do self treatment of the health problems we get at some or the other point in life... We all do right?.. with no time to spend waiting for an appointment with the health providr..better treat our problems ourselves. Fever+sore throat --- its Viral! take antibiotics! Headache? pop in a pain killer! We treat ourselves so confidently!! so surprising.. isnt it? how do we get this confidence..? through past experiences.. through health information given on tv advertisements, and father of all - 'Google' ;) etc.. But don't you think its better to take an advise from a health professional..?
Managing an acute health problem is way different from managing a chronic health problem. We do go for a short visit to the health care provider for an acute problem treatment. But how will we know if the treatment we are going to get from him is the best option for us at that point of time, will the health care provider inform us about the other possible option for the same problem.? For chronic health problem it would get so taxing to get treatment everyday.. Here I would like to ask you about something called as 'Health Literacy'.. What does it mean to be health literate.. How to become health literate..?
Health literacy can be defined as the ability of the patient to seek, understand, and use health information. As the requirement for self management in health care is increasingly emphasised, especially in the management of chronic conditions, patients are required to assume greater responsibility in :
- handling diverse information resources such as educational materials, prescriptions and medical forms
- navigating different healthcare settings
- communicating with a range of health professionals who will have different experiences and approaches in how they deliver therapeutic instructions or advice
- making informed decisions about their health care including adhering to prescribed therapeutic regimens and implementing lifestyle changes to optimise health.
Low health literacy has been linked to poor health behaviours and outcomes, independent of other socio-demographic factors. It is therefore recognised as an important public health issue internationally. It has been researched in various populations that low health literacy has been associated with -
- less utilisation of preventive healthcare services
- increased rate of hospitalisation
- poor adherence to prescribed medications or therapy
- poorer chronic condition self-management skills
- reduced health related knowledge
- poor communication between healthcare professionals and patients
- lower self reported health status
- Increased healthcare cost
This indicates that health information is a critical factor in shaping individual health behaviours and outcomes. But how do patients get the literacy about health? Its from the health care providers mainly. Also printed health information materials and multi-media are used to make people health literate. Health care professionals play an important role in ensuring effective delivery and uptake of information. It is the duty of the health professional and the right of the patient to know about the health problem and the various options available for the treatment of the same. The health professional should make sure that the information he is giving is in a comprehensible language and simple to understand with no medical terms. Other than language and medical terms used while imparting health information, barriers for patients utilising health information and being adequately health literate were -
- competing lifestyle commitments ( ignoring appointments with health care provider once health problem becomes less disturbing)
- socioeconomic circumstances
- and prescribed treatment not being consistent with their beliefs or attitudes.
Thus these are important considerations for physiotherapist and other health care providers in clinical practise, who anticipate that patients will both understand and utilise the health information optimally.
This was about making the patient health literate.. But how literate are the clinicians? Recent surveys on management of low back pain, have shown that many clinicians still advice activity avoidance, discordant with the current evidence-based guidelines. There is evidence that practitioners beliefs about low back pain influences the patients beliefs to a great extent. It is therefore important that health professionals stay up to date with the recent evidences and approaches to the management of health problems, so that they can provide better health information to the patients. And after providing the information a communication method called as 'teach-back' be used, which has been shown to be highly effective in knowing how much the patint has understood what the clinician or healthcare provider has informed. This involves, the health professional, after initially providing verbal information, asking the patient to reiterate the information in their own words.
Reference - J. or Physiotherapy 2010 Vol 56. Briggs et al
