Growing Awareness of the Importance of Health Literacy in Individuals with COPD

Figures & data

Table 1.  Effects of health literacy

Diminished Health Literacy	Adequate Health Literacy
Less knowledge about the illness and its management (9,10)	Increased awareness of factors related to health (70)
Inability to locate information related to disease-prevention (18,19,20)	More advocacy and social action (78)
Decreased ability to understand medical information (21)	Increased disease prevention (82,83,84)
Higher likelihood of not asking for clarification because of feelings of shame and embarrassment (18,19)	Enhanced ability to access health-related information and utilize services (66,68)
Decreased ability for self-management (6)	Clearer communication with healthcare providers (22,22,24,81)
Less likely to take part in health decision-making (70,71)	Greater probability of compliance with practitioners’ recommendations (69,70)
Higher likelihood of medication errors and misreading prescription drug labels (13)	Better disease management (6,70,71)
Reduced rate of compliance with treatment recommendations (22,24)	Improved health status (46)
Higher likelihood of hospitalization (6)	Reduced probability of hospitalization (6)
Increased burden on the healthcare system (81,87,88)	Reduced health disparities and barriers to health promotion (90)
	Reduced burden on the healthcare system (6,81,87,88)

Table 2.  Recommendations for clinical practice

1) Listen without interruption (69)

2) Use simple language and provide written material with minimal clinical jargon (21, 23,24)

3) Dictate consultation letter in front of the patient (67)

4) Offer to provide patient with a copy of the consultation letter (70)

5) Provide a glossary of terms used in the written material (70)

6) Use telephone follow-up or case management to maintain adherence (68,71)

7) Use simple action plans with pictograms rather than words (66,68,76)

8) Encourage patients to be accompanied by someone with good literacy skills (67)

9) Use a teach-back method for patient to explain the recommendations to the practitioner (67)

10) Provide instructional material in the patients native language (82,83,88)

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