Health Literacy

     

            There were many things that I learned from Professor Flick’s presentation on health literacy, and I will be discussing a few throughout this blog post. One thing I learned about is social determinants of health. This can consist of things such as a person’s social, genetic, lifestyle, and environmental factors. Furthermore, these factors can be broken down into things such as access to health care, education, culture, housing, socioeconomic status, and social support, which can all affect health in a positive or negative way. Knowing our client’s determinants of health can give us a better overview on how to treat them the best way we know how. Determinants of health also affect an individual’s health literacy.

            What exactly is health literacy? It is defined as the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions. It’s easy to get frustrated when your client returns to a session without doing their home exercises or when they cannot comprehend what you are telling them. However, it is important for health care professionals to keep in mind that not everyone we come in contact with has the same education, knowledge or understanding that we do about a health topic. Physical problems, cognitive issues, where someone is from, or deprivation of educational resources are just a few factors that hinder individuals, including clients, in understanding what we are explaining to them, and often times, they are too embarrassed to admit it. Furthermore, as the video stated, the majority of clients and patients leave appointments without understanding what they have been told. It is our job as health care professionals to make sure that this does not happen. It is vital that our clients understand what they need to do in order to improve. A great way to do this is to build a strong foundation and relationship with our client so that they feel comfortable enough to tell us when they do or do not understand something. Professor Flick’s video also stated that it is important to look for clues. If the client is missing appointments regularly, seems forgetful about their health, or has difficulty filling out paperwork, they may not have proper access to resources. Our ultimate goal is to give them the best quality of life possible, but without health literacy, it is almost impossible. Thankfully, OT practitioners can play a large role in helping to advance health literacy for populations. As Professor Flick stated, “We have to really understand what can make people vulnerable to their health being impacted, and what we as OTs can do about it.”