Health Literacy

When you talk to a client or hand them paperwork to fill out, you don't always think about whether or not the client can understand you or can read the papers that they have been given. A common assumption in healthcare is that the client is on the same level as the physician when it comes to reading or language comprehension. In actuality, there are many clients that have less than a 4th grade reading level. I did not realize how much of an issue health literacy is in our world. It is always important to talk to a client in user friendly words and explain terms in a way that is universally easy to understand. It is not considered dumbing the language down, but rather giving the patient a peace of mind to understand exactly what the physician is saying. For example, in one of the videos that was shown in class, the client knew that he had high blood pressure, but when his physician used the word hypertension, he had no idea what the word meant. Therefore, it is important for the physician to use terms that are easy to understand, where the client will feel comfortable and confident in knowing what the physician is saying.