[OKC] Good Read - The Arc of Health Literacy

Mon Aug 24 08:51:09 PDT 2015

Sorry for any cross-posting! Please forward to other colleagues or partners who may be interested!

***JOIN US - Sept. 29 for OHEC Meeting, more details at end of message***

This viewpoint discusses the roles of clinicians, institutions, and systems in increasing health literacy at the individual patient and population level.

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2426088&utm_campaign=articlePDF&utm_medium=articlePDFlink&utm_source=articlePDF&utm_content=jama.2015.9978
The Arc of Health Literacy
Howard K. Koh, MD, MPH1,2; Rima E. Rudd, ScD, MSPH1
[+-] Author Affiliations<http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2426088&utm_campaign=articlePDF&utm_medium=articlePDFlink&utm_source=articlePDF&utm_content=jama.2015.9978>
1Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
2Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge, Massachusetts
JAMA. Published online August 06, 2015. doi:10.1001/jama.2015.9978

It is a troubling paradox. In the midst of rapid expansion of medical knowledge intended to benefit many, too few actually understand medical information well enough to improve their health. A landmark 2006 report notes that only about 12% of US adults had a proficient state of health literacy whereby "individuals can obtain, process and understand the basic health information and services they need to make appropriate health decisions."1<http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2426088&utm_campaign=articlePDF&utm_medium=articlePDFlink&utm_source=articlePDF&utm_content=jama.2015.9978#jvp150133r1> Furthermore, the 2011 Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (the third wave of adult literacy assessments conducted among 23 industrialized nations) indicates continuing issues: US adults scored below the international average for literacy, numeracy, and problem solving in technology-rich environments.2<http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2426088&utm_campaign=articlePDF&utm_medium=articlePDFlink&utm_source=articlePDF&utm_content=jama.2015.9978#jvp150133r2>

As a result, despite abundant messaging from health professionals, the media, the Internet, and other sources, too many patients still have difficulty with seemingly routine tasks such as taking the right medicine at the right time, properly self-managing diabetes, or correctly following hospital discharge instructions. In this increasingly complicated health information environment, even the most sophisticated adult can be overwhelmed by unfamiliar medical terms, unexplained acronyms, and technical jargon. The paradox is that people are awash in knowledge they may be unable to use.

These limitations are clearly hazardous to health. Research has firmly linked limited health literacy to a cascade of suboptimal health outcomes, including worse overall health status and increased early mortality rates in elderly persons.3<http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2426088&utm_campaign=articlePDF&utm_medium=articlePDFlink&utm_source=articlePDF&utm_content=jama.2015.9978#jvp150133r3> To contribute to a healthier society, health literacy must improve in all its dimensions, including print literacy (writing, reading), oral literacy (listening, speaking), and numeracy (calculations, math concepts, and displays).

Initial strategies for improvement have largely focused on overcoming deficits of patients in clinical settings. For example, to address the profound mismatch between US adults' literacy skills and the complex written health information usually provided to them, researchers have urged the production of more jargon-free written materials aimed at a middle school education level. Such efforts have produced more understandable instructions about health activities and medical processes through intake forms, legal documents, patient brochures, and related materials. However, actionable health materials, in both print and online, remain inaccessible to many with a high school education.

Now, an array of forces has catalyzed a reframing of the field. Heightened national efforts to improve health care quality bring renewed opportunity to apply health literacy research findings and insights. Enrolling millions of clients into health insurance through the Affordable Care Act requires understandable information for those considering new coverage. The increasing racial/ethnic and cultural diversity of the country underscores that health literacy is critical to achieve health equity. Health literacy efforts are now extending well beyond a focus on written materials for individuals. Heightened attention also by clinicians, institutions, and systems creates a new arc of health literacy that promises broader reach and influence.

Read entire article with more concerning CLINICIANS...INSTITUTIONS...SYSTEMS...REFERENCES

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2426088&utm_campaign=articlePDF&utm_medium=articlePDFlink&utm_source=articlePDF&utm_content=jama.2015.9978

Achieving Health Equity

What is health equity?

Health equity, as understood in public health literature and practice, is when everyone has the opportunity to "attain their full health potential" and no one is "disadvantaged from achieving this potential because of their social position or other socially determined circumstance."

Social determinants of health are life-enhancing resources, such as food supply, housing, economic and social relationships, transportation, education, and health care, whose distribution across populations effectively determines length and quality of life.

JOIN US!

Oklahoma Health Equity Campaign (OHEC) Meeting
Tuesday, September 29
9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
OK State Department of Health
1000 NE 10th St., Oklahoma City, OK  73117
Videoconferencing is available

September is "Literacy Month" and October is "Health Literacy" Month.
On Tuesday, September 29, we will address health literacy - see OHEC's attached position statement.

The OHEC is collaborating with the Oklahoma Literacy Coalition to bring Michelle Malizia to Oklahoma.

Ms. Malizia will speak about "Libraries and Health Organizations as Partners in Community (Public) Health"

Michelle Malizia, MA, has over 13 years providing instruction in a wide range of topics including grant writing, emerging technologies and health information literacy. She created the workshop Grants and Proposal Writing in 2002 and has presented it to over 700 people representing a wide array of organizations such as health departments, libraries, universities, hospitals and community-based groups. In 2007, she began teaching a workshop entitled Easy-to-Read: Health and Wellness Materials for Consumers which provides a background on the problem of health literacy and methods to assess and create patient friendly materials. She has presented at state and national conferences throughout the country including the Texas Public Health Association, New Mexico Public Health Association, Arkansas Library Association, Texas Library Association, Medical Library Association, National Student Nurses Association and American Pediatrics Association.  She has a BA in Psychology from the University of Colorado and an MA in Library and Information Science from the University of Arizona. Michelle is a founding partner of Gem.in.i Information Program Specialists.

RSVP today, call 405-271-9444, ext. 56543.
If you wish to participate locally, please call or email karlab at health.ok.gov<mailto:karlab at health.ok.gov>  and we will check the availability of your local health department where you can participate by videoconference. The following local health departments are scheduled to link:

  1.  Canadian County Health Department, 100 S. Rock Island, El Reno; Contact Amy Vanness, (405) 262-0042
  2.  Garfield County Health Department, 2501 Mercer Dr., Enid; Contact Della Helm, (580) 233-0650
  3.  Jackson County Health Department, 401 W. Tamarack Rd., Altus; Contact Karen Testerman, (580) 482-7308
  4.  Oklahoma State Department of Health, 1000 NE 10th St., Room 806, Oklahoma City; Contact Karla McGuire, (405)271-9444, ext. 56543.
  5.  Payne County Health Department, 1321 W. 7th Ave., Stillwater; Contact Tami Hicks, (405) 372-8200
  6.  Pontotoc County Health Department, 2330 Arlington St., Ada; Contact Anita Cariker, (580) 332-2011
  7.  Woodward County Health Department, 1631 Texas Avenue Woodward; Contact Jeri Dwinelle, (580) 256-6416

S. Marisa New, OTR, MPH
Manager, Health Equity and Resource Opportunities (HERO)
Partnerships for Health Improvement
Oklahoma State Department of Health
1000 NE 10th Street, Room 508
Oklahoma City, OK  73117
(405) 271-9444, ext. 56410
(405) 271-1225 fax
marisan at health.ok.gov<mailto:marisan at health.ok.gov>
Visit:  http://hero.health.ok.gov<http://hero.health.ok.gov/>
Other websites to visit: Oklahoma Health Equity Campaign www.okhealthequity.org<http://www.ywca.org/oklahomahealthequitycampaign>
TWITTER: @okhealthequity
"Be the change you want to see in the world." - Mohandas Gandhi
You be the change agent.
Achieving Health Equity

What is health equity?

Health equity, as understood in public health literature and practice, is when everyone has the opportunity to "attain their full health potential" and no one is "disadvantaged from achieving this potential because of their social position or other socially determined circumstance."

Social determinants of health are life-enhancing resources, such as food supply, housing, economic and social relationships, transportation, education, and health care, whose distribution across populations effectively determines length and quality of life.

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