Health literacy needs our attention
To the editor:
Have you ever interacted with a health care provider and walked away with your questions left unanswered? Do you read information at providers’ offices and wonder what it means? October is Health Literacy Month. What is health literacy? Simply put, it is the ability to understand health related information that is being communicated, whether it be verbally or in writing.
Not everyone is at the same level of literacy but everyone has health concerns and should be able to understand information that is essential to their health or those of their loved ones. Did you know that by some estimates only 12 percent of English speaking adults in the U.S. have the necessary skills to be considered proficient at health literacy?
My message is to anyone in the health care field that interacts with patients or creates websites, brochures and other communication that will be read by the public. Let’s stop and take a moment to think about the information we are relaying and how it might be perceived by others on all points of the literacy spectrum.
To learn more about health literacy, please visit: www.cdc.gov/healthliteracy
Jasmine Pike
USM Graduate Student
Muskie School
of Public Service
Formerly of Presque Isle
