Have you ever gone
to a doctor’s appointment and they drew blood, performed scans and then gave
you the results as if you were a nurse or a doctor and understood everything
that they said? I think that we all have been there. Fortunately for myself, I have
a smartphone and could go back out to my car in the parking lot and could look
up that information on resources such as Google. But wh does this even have to happen? Why don’t we ask more
questions while the doctor is right there? Is the “white coat syndrome” real?
I am one of the
lucky ones. I grew up with a computer in the house and at my school that I accessed
almost every day. I grew up in a world where information was at my fingertips
and all I had to do was take the time to find the answer I was looking for. I
am also lucky because my mom is a Physician Assistant who knows a lot about
medical information and I could always has her for help and she would explain
things to be in a way that I could understand. Another reason I am lucky is
because I have always had access to healthcare and have always had an interest
in medicine.
But what about what seems like the
other 99.9% of the world that wasn’t as lucky as I have been to have a good understanding
of health literacy. Health literacy, according to the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services means “the degree
to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic
health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.” Health
literacy is huge! We can read articles, hear news stories on TV or radio, and
even go to doctor’s offices and hear all types of medical information, but a
lot of people don’t even understand what some of those words mean. In this blog, I want
to focus on health literacy of the geriatric population.
As a future nurse,
I find it extremely critical that my patients understand what I am saying to
them as it is one of my primary duties to educate the patients about their
health, their procedures, and their medications. In 2003, the Federal
government did a study about all things involving the aging population and
health literacy was a major topic in this study. As per the chart below, provided by
the Federal Interagency Forum on Aging Related Statistics, “twelve
percent of people age 50-64 have a proficient knowledge of health literacy”.
The chart also shows that by ages 75 and older, there is only one percent of
that population age range that has proficient health literacy.
This chart is
outstanding to me. It really makes me want to put some thought and effort into
myself and my colleagues to make sure that when we talk to our patients, all of
their questions are answered. I never want me patients to leave my clinic or my
hospital floor and be confused about what was just discussed. Health is
necessary to living a longer and fuller life, so being able to understand what
their healthcare team is educating them about, should be at the top of the list
of importance. And that is why I want to write this blog. I want to inform other
healthcare workers about the need for them to understand that the aging
population and that they may not totally understand us when we are educating them about
healthcare topics.
Resources:
Older Americans 2008: Key Indicators of Well-Being. (n.d.).
Retrieved September 17, 2015, from
http://www.agingstats.gov/Main_Site/Data/2008_Documents/Special_Feature.aspx
Quick Guide to Health Literacy and Older Adults - Health
Literacy and Older Adults. (n.d.).
Retrieved September
17, 2015, from
http://health.gov/communication/literacy/olderadults/literacy.htm
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