Health literacy is an individual's ability to read, understand and use healthcare information to make decisions and follow instructions for treatment.
Health literacy is an individual's ability to read, understand and use healthcare information to make decisions and follow instructions for treatment.
Identifying patients at risk due to low health literacy is productive. Health behaviors such as correct medication use, taking advantage of health screening and effective preventive measures such as exercise and smoking cessation improved when low literacy patients were given visual aids, easy readability brochures or videotapes.1
1. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: Evidence Report/Technology Assessment: Number 87 Literacy and Health Outcomes