Overview and Summary: Promoting Health Literacy: Strategies for Healthcare Providers

Abstract

Citation: Ludwick, R., (Sept. 30, 2009) Overview and Summary. Promoting Literacy: Strategies for Healthcare Providers OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing\Jo\. 14, No. 3, Overview. Available: www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Voll42009/No 3Sept09/Overview-and-Summary-Health-Literacy.aspx Three years ago my husband was diagnosed with esophageal cancer; at that time he was not health literate. The signs of both esophageal cancer and health literacy can be subtle. Both have serious consequences if they remain undetected. However, esophageal cancer is immediately recognized as dangerous because cancer is frequently considered a life and death matter that needs immediate intervention. In contrast, low health literacy is generally not recognized as dangerous. Although the incidence of esophageal cancer is increasing, it remains a relatively rare cancer. In contrast, as Egbert and Nanna note in their article, 88 percent of Americans have some deficiency in health literacy (White, 2008). Thus low health literacy is a common issue that impacts us both professionally and personally as we care for and advise our patients as well as our family and friends regarding their health issues. Today my husband is cancer free and he has increased his health literacy level immensely. He is able to explain his symptoms, monitor and re-order medications, manage lists of questions for his appointments, ask for clarification from his providers, reconcile the list of medications he takes regularly on his follow-up visits, and make informed decisions about his health and treatment plans. Recognizing his previous health-knowledge limitations, my husband said to me while hospitalized after his esophagectomy, It's important you are studying health literacy. I didn't know what I didn't know. In a like manner I am glad that this issue of OJIN is devoted to health literacy, a concern that nurses, as individuals and as professionals, can do so much about. Although it will take the wisdom and skill of professionals in many disciplines to address the problem of low health literacy, nurses are in key positions to address this problem. Nurses working in clinical, educational, administrative, research, and political positions will all be needed to increase health literacy in the United States (US) and around the world. Join me in reading these articles that emphasize individual, person-centered health literacy efforts and recognize the broader issues of health literacy within our society, noting the unique contributions nurses can make at every level of healthcare. These introductory articles addressing healthcare literacy articulate the extent of the problem of low health literacy, clarify the concept of health literacy, and offer concrete suggestions for increasing health literacy. These rich articles will be of value across roles and settings whether you are a nurse, or other professional, seeking to address this common, yet elusive, and often hidden, problem of low health literacy. The article, Health Literacy: Challenges and Strategies, by Egbert and Nanna provides a strong introduction to the topic of health literacy, presenting the historical development of the current emphasis on health literacy and providing common definitions of health literacy. Using the framework of the Institute of Medicine's (IOM's) definition of health literacy, the authors discuss the challenges of obtaining, processing and understanding, and using health information, and offer strategies to overcome these challenges. Implications for both practice and research are emphasized. Recognizing that health illiteracy is a broad problem, one not solved at the individual or the disease level, the authors suggest examining health literacy from a social capital perspective and examine the networks and relationships that can build and sustain the health literacy of a population. …