health literacy

mHealth/shutterstock

We've been having a hard time promoting patient education in India, even though there is such a great need for it. Patients are all online, and are looking for information which they can trust - but they often get lost and confused , because there is much garbage online. Doctors often get irritated by patients who carry pages and pages of Internet information, because so much of it is unreliable.[read more]

Pharma questions: Bilal Kamoon/Flickr

Relationships require nurturing and regular self-examination. The only way to create strong partnerships is to ask ourselves what we’re contributing and whether or not it is what the other party in the relationship is truly seeking. So what do patients want from pharma?[read more]

drug interaction/shutterstock

In this edition of CareNovateMag, we offer some resources regarding drug interactions. Understanding drug interactions and how they may make your drug less effective, cause unexpected side effects, or increase the effect of a particular drug is a very important part of managing medication.[read more]

Helen Osborne, who is an expert on Health Literacy, recently interviewed me about what HELP is doing to promote health literacy in India ![read more]

Gabby the Virtual Preconception Care Advocate

There is a disproportionate share of young women of demographic minority status and socioeconomic disadvantage with high rates of poor reproductive health and family planning outcomes in the US. Gabby, an avatar, is an online preconception risk assessment tool that engages young women at a sixth-grade reading level.[read more]

computer/shutterstock

However, I believe the single largest killer is health illiteracy. Let me explain. While some of us are fortunate enough to will die happily in our own beds of old age, most of us will suffer from an illness, which will cause death as it progresses. When we are ill, we seek medical attention, and this means that the terminal event for most people in the developed world will occur in a hospital, under a doctor’s care.[read more]

literacy/shutterstock

But as health literacy plays an increasingly important role in person-centred healthcare, how will the support needed to grow peoples’ capability be delivered? And how is health literacy going to be measured? On what basis?[read more]

confusion/shutterstock

...the information on 95 percent of prostate cancer websites is over the heads of their readers. Of 62 websites surveyed, only three had treatment information written below a ninth grade reading level, the study said. Sites aimed for the reading level of a high school senior are far beyond the reading skills of many Americans.[read more]

innovation/shutterstock

I was fortunate enough to be part of a workshop today looking at the issues around broadening the adoption of genomics in the health system in the UK. As a well-informed layperson, the opportunity to hear from so many experts in the field, from clinical geneticists to public health professionals and health policy experts was a rare treat. Three things stuck out for me:[read more]

computer/shutterstock

Multimedia is a catch-all phrase for “alternatives to text.” As we discussed in previous chapters, the exclusive reliance on text – either printed or spoken – is often at the heart of health illiteracy. Multimedia provides other avenues for presenting information through the use of photographs, illustrations, animation, video, and interactive learning environments that invite rather than discourage people with literacy or language issues to learn.[read more]

confusion/shutterstock

According to a recent study, the information on 95 percent of prostate cancer websites is over the heads of their readers. Of 62 websites surveyed, only three had treatment information written below a ninth grade reading level, the study said.[read more]

literacy/shutterstock

Check below for some good resources on Health Literacy![read more]