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Read what the National Academy of Sciences has to say...

Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion



Project:
Health Literacy
Published On:
April 8 2004



Nearly half of all American adults—90 million people—find it hard to understand and use health information, including... Also, people who don’t understand these sources of information are more likely to go to the hospital or to need emergency services, says a report from the Institute of Medicine titled Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion. The trouble people have understanding health instructions may lead to billions of dollars in health care costs that could have been avoided.

More than a measurement of reading skills, health literacy also includes writing, listening, speaking, arithmetic, and conceptual knowledge. Health literacy means the ability to find, choose, and understand basic information and services needed to make the right decisions about health issues. At some point, most people will encounter health information they cannot understand. Even well educated people with strong reading and writing skills may have trouble figuring out a medical form or health care provider's instructions about a drug or procedure.

A serious effort by the public health and health care systems, the education system, the media, and health care consumers (That’s the rest of us!) is needed to improve the nation's health literacy, the report says. If patients cannot use the health information they are given, attempts to improve the quality of care and reduce health care costs and inequality may fail.

The report recommends that health care systems develop and support programs to reduce the negative effects of limited health literacy and that health knowledge and skills be made part of the existing lessons in kindergarten through 12th grade classes, as well as into adult education and community programs. Furthermore, methods of promoting health literacy, health education, and health promotion programs should be developed with input from the people who will use them. And all such efforts must be sensitive to cultural and language preferences.


Here’s What this means to you!

Every designer, maker, and distributor of health care and scientific products of any kind must be alert to the need for the best quality of information to accompany the product into the field.

Your customer must have the most readable, most understandable, and most useful information you can provide.

The result is the best reflection on your company and your products, and tremendous savings for your enterprise in terms of customer support effort, sales effort, and the ability to show due diligence in the preparation of your product for the market.

How can you accomplish this? The answer is simple. Just let a professional expert study your product, your market, and the clinical situation into which your product is to be launched. Such an expert will provide you an economical, efficient solution to your need for quality and usefulness in every aspect of the products' accompanying publications, large and small... You owe it to yourself to take advantage of the expert's experience and knowledge base, and have these materials produced by specialists. The process is very economical and efficient, and produces business benefits and savings throughout the life of your product.

To find out more, call David Cook today at 704-983-5525.



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