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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I would like to acknowledge the support of the South Australian Premier's Nursing and Midwifery Scholarship and Professor Mike Wolf, Northwestern University, Chicago.
KEY WORDS
Health literacy; patient education; social determinants; patient communication; patient education
ABSTRACT
Objective
To provide contextual information about health literacy and its importance to health care, nursing, and health consumers.
Primary argument
Health literacy is of concern to all health workers, including nurses, working in all areas of the Australian health care system. Low levels of health literacy is a significant problem in Australia. Population measurements of functional health literacy levels (ABS 2008) indicate that 59 per cent of the Australian population aged 15 to 74 years did not achieve an adequate health literacy skill level to meet the complex demands of everyday life and work in a knowledge?based economy. Nurses play a vital role in the care and education of health consumers. As such an understanding of health literacy and how it impacts on health care and health outcomes is central to providing patient?centred care, and improving health outcomes.
Conclusion
An understanding by nurses of health literacy is central to enhancing the involvement of health consumers in their care, and improving health outcomes and the provision of safe health care.
INTRODUCTION
The need for health consumers to be 'health literate' in today's society is greater than ever before. Health consumers are required to participate in more complicated preventative health care and self?care regimes, understand more complex health information, and navigate more complex health systems.
Low levels of health literacy are a significant problem in Australia. Population measurements of functional health literacy levels (ABS 2008) indicate that 59 per cent of the Australian population aged 15 to 74 years did not achieve an adequate health literacy skill level to meet the complex demands of everyday life and work in a knowledge?based economy. Although low levels of health literacy is disproportionate in certain demographic groups, such as the elderly, people from non?English speaking backgrounds (in an English speaking society), and people with low general literacy; low levels of health literacy affects all segments of the population (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality 2010). Health literacy levels can be context specific and can change depending on the problem being addressed, when...