Approximately 36% of American adults and 60% of Canadian adults have low health literacy. Research has found that patients with low health literacy are less likely to follow treatment plans and are 1.5 to three times more likely to experience poor health outcomes. In this talk, we will be addressing the impact that health literacy has on patient outcomes and outlining the strategies practitioners can use for improving the care of patients through health education.
Learning Objectives
- Cite the current definition of health literacy and the prevalence of low health literacy in the US and Canada
- Identify the barriers associated with low health literacy
- Describe the impact of low health literacy on patient health outcomes
- Explain the popular health literacy assessment tools and their limitations
- Demonstrate the various actionable strategies to help enhance health literacy in the clinical setting
