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Health Literacy Month

Date: 10/31/22

Health Literacy Month is an international observance when hospitals, health centers, businesses, government agencies, and other healthcare organizations work collaboratively to integrate and expand health literacy. Health literacy is the degree to which individuals can obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.

  • Why is health literacy important? Health literacy is a key social determinant of health (SDOH), which can contribute to health disparities among groups of people:
    • Populations with higher health literacy are found to be healthier than those with lower levels, presenting a challenge to achieving health equity.
  • People are more likely to have below basic health literacy skills if they:
    • Self-reported poor health
    • Were age 65 or older
    • Lived below the poverty level
    • Were Hispanic or Black

 

What are some health terms that would be helpful to individuals?

  • Many Americans will be selecting their new health insurance plan soon.
  • As they’re exploring and researching plans, they’ll come across a variety of terms and numbers that impact the care they receive and how they receive it. Below are a few terms that will help them understand and navigate that decision-making process:
    • Network – A health insurance network is a group of doctors and medical care providers across multiple specialties that have a contract to provide healthcare services to members of a health insurance plan.
    • Premium – The amount you pay for your health insurance coverage every month. In addition to your premium, you usually must pay other costs for your healthcare, including a deductible, copayments, and coinsurance.
    • Deductible – The total amount you pay for covered healthcare services before your insurance plan starts to pay. This amount is accumulated over multiple visits and services.
    • Copayment – A fixed amount you pay for a covered healthcare service. A copay is required both before and after you reach your deductible.
    • Coinsurance – Once you’ve reached your deductible, this is the percentage of costs of a covered healthcare service that you are still required to pay.
    • Out-of-Pocket Maximum – A cap, or limit on the amount of money you must pay for covered healthcare services in a plan year.

What are some health literacy statistics?

  • According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Nearly nine out of ten adults struggle to understand and use personal and public health information it contains unfamiliar or complex terms.
  • The CDC states limited health literacy costs the healthcare system money and results in higher than necessary morbidity and mortality. In fact, improving health literacy could prevent nearly one million hospital visits and save over $25 billion a year.
  • According to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) Study, health literacy is divided into four levels, which are:
    • Below basic - only the most simple and concrete literacy skills
    • Basic - skills needed to perform simple, everyday literacy activities
    • Intermediate - skills needed to perform moderately challenging activities
    • Proficient - skills needed for more complex and challenging literacy activities (such as navigating the healthcare system)

 

  • Some findings from the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) Study include
    • 36% had below basic or basic health literacy skills
    • 53% had intermediate health literacy skills
    • Only 12% had proficient health literacy skills
    • Women’s average health literacy score was 6 points higher than men’s average

How can we improve health literacy

  • For members
    • Ask questions - If you don’t understand what your doctor is telling you or only understand part of it, ask questions
    • Repeat what your doctor told you in your own words – This gives your doctor the chance to clear up any misunderstandings
    • Ask for any hand-outs or physical materials to help you understand – Some individuals learn by voice, some visually, and others through reading. Ask for the information in the form that is most useful for you.
  • For healthcare organizations
    • Develop and distribute health information that is accurate, accessible, and actionable
    • Provide information at an appropriate grade level
    • Use graphics and pictures instead of long written instructions
    • Support and expand community efforts to provide healthcare education that is culturally and linguistically appropriate.