ABOUT HEALTH LITERACY
Health literacy is the ability to find, understand, and easily use health information and services to make informed decisions and take informed actions. 88% of Americans struggle with health literacy at one time or another. This can include a variety of components of health literacy such as visual literacy, computer literacy, information literacy, numerical literacy, and oral language skills.
Health literacy impacts many aspects of a patient’s journey through the healthcare system. This includes understanding their medication and their financial obligations and how they find and assess information related to their health. Health literacy also affects the understanding of care instructions, test results, and the risks and benefits of interventions.
People with low health literacy are at risk for…
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using more healthcare services
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being hospitalized
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having more expensive services
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experiencing poor outcomes
More information on Health Literacy in Texas (for educational purposes only) below:
