Plain Language is the Minimum
Sep 30th, 2011 by BK
October is Health Literacy Month. It is a call for action to improve health literacy.
In Canada, 60% of adults have low levels of health literacy (Canadian Council on Learning, 2008). Sadly, that’s a lot of people.
The most common suggestion for improving health literacy is to communicate health information in plain language. Yet, plain language is the minimum when it comes to health literacy. What other actions can improve health literacy? It helps to think of health literacy as involving: 1) a flow of information; and 2) a set of skills.
Health literacy involves a flow of information from a source (for example, a pamphlet or a doctor) to a recipient (for example, a patient). Plain language, like many other health literacy interventions, focuses on modifying characteristics of the source. While these are important, interventions that focus on the recipient in terms of skills are far fewer. Every recipient possesses a set of health literacy skills (which may change over time). We can and should increase health literacy skills in individuals as well.
These skills should be transferable across contexts. That means that my skills in finding, understanding, evaluating, and communicating health information can be used whether I’m looking for information on diabetes on the Internet, reading a pamphlet on nutrition handed out to me at a health fair, or telling my doctor about my latest health problem.
People generally learn these skills by trial and error, by following an example, or they never learn them. Wouldn’t it be great to have planned efforts to teach health literacy skills? There are several logical points of entry for teaching health literacy skills. One point of entry is the school system. Teach transferable health literacy skills so students have the capacity to acquire health knowledge in the future as adults, when they are no longer required to attend classes to learn. Other points of entry are adult basic education classes (e.g., for those who didn’t finish high school) and ESL (English as Second Language) classes. (For everyone else – adults who finished high school and who aren’t immigrants – the likelihood of a health literacy class being offered or open to them is probably slim. For this latter group, the more likely point of entry is the source of information. Characteristics of the source can be modified, such as using plain language and training health professionals about health literacy.)
Teaching transferable health literacy skills empowers people and helps them develop self-efficacy to be an active part of the exchange of health information. Plain language is the minimum. Empowerment is the guiding principle. Understanding is the goal. Better health is the outcome.
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