Health literacy is the ability to understand your health, medical care, and overall wellness. However, research shows that many adults find health information hard to understand. This includes what doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other health care professionals say, written medical instructions, and health insurance forms. Even when people have good access to health services, lack of information can make it difficult for patients and families to properly manage their health. The September 14, 2011, issue of JAMA includes an article about health literacy in patients.
Grahic Jump Location
Most people may find health care terms and instructions challenging to understand. However, low health literacy is particularly common among elderly persons, individuals with a chronic illness or disability, persons who live in poverty, individuals who do not speak English, and persons with a mental illness.
Research studies are looking at ways to provide easy-to-understand health information to help people with low health literacy make good decisions. In the meantime, here are some ways you can get the most out of a visit to your doctor.
For any medical visit, take a trusted person with you, such as a family member or close friend.
Always ask questions if you do not understand something. Your doctor wants to make sure you know your condition and how to follow any medical instructions.
Always bring to any medical visit an up-to-date list of all the medications you take, including over-the-counter products and any natural or herbal preparations. You may want to bring all your medications to your visit.
Write down your questions and concerns before you go to any health care visit so you don't forget what you want to know.
Ask your doctor to write down information and instructions discussed during your visit.
If you have vision or hearing problems, ask for help. Your doctor can provide information in large print or use other resources to make sure you get information.
The Internet can be a good source for health information if you know where to look. However, it can be hard to determine whether a Web site can be trusted or is up to date. Here are some tips to help you start your Internet search:
Government Web sites, like the National Institutes of Health (www.nih.gov) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov), provide accurate information to patients and families and can also point you in the right direction for other sites.
Large nonprofit organizations, like the American Heart Association (www.americanheart.org) or American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org), can also be very helpful.
If you find information that concerns you, bring it to your appointment and discuss it with your doctor.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality www.ahrq.gov
National Institutes of Health www.nih.gov
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services www.cms.gov
World Health Organization www.who.int
To find this and previous JAMA Patient Pages, go to the Patient Page Index on JAMA's Web site at www.jama.com. Many are available in English and Spanish. A Patient Page on the basics of health care insurance was published in the March 14, 2007, issue.
Sources: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, National Institutes of Health, World Health Organization, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Topic: HEALTH EDUCATION
The JAMA Patient Page is a public service of JAMA. The information and recommendations appearing on this page are appropriate in most instances, but they are not a substitute for medical diagnosis. For specific information concerning your personal medical condition, JAMA suggests that you consult your physician. This page may be photocopied noncommercially by physicians and other health care professionals to share with patients. To purchase bulk reprints, call 312/464-0776.
Country-Specific Mortality and Growth Failure in Infancy and Yound Children and Association With Material Stature
Use interactive graphics and maps to view and sort country-specific infant and early dhildhood mortality and growth failure data and their association with maternal
Instructions
Comments are moderated and will appear on the site at the discretion of the Journal of American Medical Association editors. Comments should not exceed 500 words of text and 10 references.
Do not submit personal medical questions or information that could identify a specific patient, questions about a particular case, or general inquiries to an author. Only content that has not been published, posted, or submitted elsewhere should be submitted. By submitting this Comment, you and any coauthors transfer copyright to the journal if your Comment is posted.
* = Required Field
Disclosure of Any Conflicts of Interest* Indicate all relevant conflicts of interest of each author below, including all relevant financial interests, activities, and relationships within the past 3 years including, but not limited to, employment, affiliation, grants or funding, consultancies, honoraria or payment, speakers’ bureaus, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, royalties, donation of medical equipment, or patents planned, pending, or issued. If all authors have none, check "No potential conflicts or relevant financial interests" in the box below. Please also indicate any funding received in support of this work. The information will be posted with your response.
Register and get free email Table of Contents alerts, saved searches, PowerPoint downloads, CME quizzes, and more
Subscribe for full-text access to content from 1998 forward and a host of useful features
Activate your current subscription (AMA members and current subscribers)
Some tools below are only available to our subscribers or users with an online account.
Download citation file:
Customize your page view by dragging & repositioning the boxes below.
The Rational Clinical Examination Make the Diagnosis: Health Literacy
The Rational Clinical Examination Original Article: Can This Patient Read and Understand Written Health Information? Health Literacy
All results at JAMAevidence.com >
and access these and other features:
Register Now
Enter your username and email address. We'll send you a reminder to the email address on record.
Athens and Shibboleth are access management services that provide single sign-on to protected resources. They replace the multiple user names and passwords necessary to access subscription-based content with a single user name and password that can be entered once per session. It operates independently of a user's location or IP address. If your institution uses Athens or Shibboleth authentication, please contact your site administrator to receive your user name and password.