One of our goals for improving the health of Mississippi is to increase health literacy. Health literacy is a Social Determinant of Health, and improving it was one of the original goals we set in 2022, and updated in 2024. What IS health literacy, and how can we improve it?
Thankfully, October is Health Literacy Month, a time to recognize the importance of making health information easy to understand and the health care system easier to navigate.
So, what is health literacy? Health Literacy when you can find, understand, and use information on health-related decisions and actions for yourself and others.
Example: Nutrition labels
Nutrition labels on packaged food are a good way to consider health literacy. Finding them is easy enough. Understanding them is the second step. Fortunately, it’s not particularly difficult, and there are new requirements to enhance their readability. These requirements ensure that caloric content is centered, and in bold print.
Understanding other aspects of the nutrition label involves a concept known as the “recommended daily value.” This is exactly what it sounds like, an amount that the USDA has determined to be a healthy amount for the average American.
Actually using nutrition labels, however, can be a bit more involved. Each label will give the amount in a single serving, and it will tell you how large that serving is, and how many servings are in the container. You don’t have to eat a serving. You can eat more or less, and this changes the way that you use a nutrition label.
This is where things can get confusing. Take this example. If the serving size is given as 2/3 of a cup, and you eat half that – 1/3 of a cup – then you would half everything on the label. 115 calories, 5% of your total daily fat, 10% of your added sugars, etc.
But there are 8 servings in this container. You could eat two servings, or 1 & 1/3 (4/3) cups. This would be 460 calories, 20% of your daily fat, 40% of added sugars.
People who have different needs for things like sugar and sodium will have to do a little more work. You may need only half as much sodium, or more iron than average.
Food labels have been designed to be easy to find, understand, and use. They are one of the most commonly encountered bits of health information.
Finding information
Most other health information is a little harder to find. Health literacy begins with finding information. According to the CDC, more Americans than ever are using information technology to communicate with their healthcare providers. That is one of many reasons why one of our goals at UProot is to expand broadband internet access.
However, just having an internet connection doesn’t mean that you can find useful information. Much of the information available online is poor quality – at best.
Even quality, factual information may not be of use. For example, you may go online and learn a number of great ways to prevent high sodium from increasing your blood pressure. You can use food nutrition labels to help avoid sodium. However, if high sodium isn’t the cause of your high blood pressure, then that information, while good and factual, does not help you.
This is why communication with a healthcare provider is so important. It is the best way to ensure that you can properly use the information you find. This may be during a regular checkup, a call or email to your doctor, a visit you schedule, or a telehealth appointment.
Communicating in a Healthcare Setting
However you do it, communication is key to understanding public health. But health literacy isn’t just for patients and the general public. That’s why one of our goals is to provide more health literacy training for healthcare providers.
Doctors, nurses, and other professionals go through a great deal of training and education that requires them to understand a specific set of language and concepts. This vocabulary and mindset allows them to communicate effectively and efficiently – with one another.
Even a careful and competent healthcare provider can slip into jargon, or believe that the patient in front of them understands what they are talking about.
For the provider, health literacy is more than just defining terms and explaining health conditions. It requires time to connect with a patient, talking to them, and making sure that they understand the instructions for their medication routines and special diets.
Patients who are health literate are more likely to trust their provider, especially if that provider is a source of easily understood, jargon-free information.
As a check, healthcare providers often ask patients to describe HOW they will follow instructions. Getting more providers to do this is a goal for increasing health literacy.
This isn’t just for doctors explaining neurology. Pharmacists, insurance company representatives, and other healthcare navigators should all take steps to orient the public on what is happening during an encounter, and limit their use of jargon.
You or your organization can get involved with these efforts to improve health literacy – a social determinant of health. Health literacy leads to better health outcomes, and more trust in doctors. With the goal of health literacy in mind, you can tailor your public health activities to help people find, understand, and use health-related information.
Communication is a two-way street. Listen to your community, then see what community health measures work by visiting the “What Works” page, which has accessible fact sheets on many health issues, including obesity and Social Determinants of Health, available online or to be printed out.
Read through the updated State Health Improvement plan and find a way to help Mississippi reach our goals.
You can read our news section to see success stories and if you know of a health improvement in Mississippi, let us know!
