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Health Literacy. Control Your Destiny # healthlit. About Your Presenter. Today ’ s Lesson. What is health literacy? The 3 critical components of health literacy… Obtain – Process Understand Healthcare: 3 questions How to apply health literacy and gain its benefits.
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Health Literacy Control Your Destiny #healthlit
Today’s Lesson • What is health literacy? • The 3 critical components of health literacy… • Obtain – Process • Understand • Healthcare: 3 questions • How to apply health literacy and gain its benefits
What Is Health Literacy? • Health literacy is "the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understandbasic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.” • Source: Institute of Medicine Report -- Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion
Google search for the word healthy brings 577,000,000 results… Low Carbs BMI gym nutrition fitness MyPlate pyramid happiness What is Healthy? shakes youth herbs electrolytes Don’t smoke natural weights Drink water protein Healthy weight Fruits and veggies portions supplements Paleo Diet
Obtain the Facts • Find credible sources. • Distinguish actual scientific facts from unfounded opinions.
Poll: Where Do You ObtainYour Health Information? • Family • Friends • TV show • Facebook • Magazine/Newspaper • Google/Internet • Vitamin store • News channels
Obtain: Conflict of Interest? • Health food store – It is very important that you buy our vitamins, even though the claims aren’t always verified, nor are they regulated. • Tobacco Institute – Smoking is okay.
Obtain: Credible Experts • Medical: • Physicians, physicians’ assistants • Nurses • Pharmacists (think: prescriptions) • Public health websites: cdc.gov, health.gov, nhlbi.nih.gov • Nutrition: • Registered dietitian • Diabetes educators • Public health websites: dietaryguidelines.gov, choosemyplate.gov, cdc.gov, health.gov, nhlbi.nih.gov,
Obtain Best Evidence • Scientific studies: • Published in peer-reviewed journals. • Repeatable results. • The best advice is evidence-based.
Obtain Peer-Reviewed Evidence • Journal of the American Medical Association • New England Journal of Medicine • Lancet • Journal of the American Dietetic Association • Canadian Journal of Cardiology • Nutrition Review • Surgeon Clinical North America • Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis Vascular Biology • Circulation • Journal of Applied Physiology • Science
There is a committee of experts who reads these for you every 5 years YOU DON’T HAVE TO READ ALL OF THAT
The Dietary Guidelines Committee Chair:Barbara Millen, DrPH, RD, Millennium PreventionVice- Chair:Alice Lichtenstein, DSc, Tufts UniversityMembers:Steven Abrams, MD, Baylor College of MedicineLucile Adams-Campbell, PhD, Georgetown University Medical CenterCheryl Anderson, PhD, MPH, University of California, San DiegoJ Thomas Brenna, PhD, Cornell UniversityWayne Campbell, PhD, Purdue UniversitySteven Clinton, MD, PhD, The Ohio State UniversityGary Foster, PhD, Temple UniversityFrank Hu, MD, PhD, MPH, Harvard School of Public HealthMiriam Nelson, PhD, Tufts UniversityMarian Neuhouser, PhD, RD, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research CenterRafael Perez-Escamilla, PhD, Yale UniversityAnna Maria Siega-Riz, PhD, RD, The University of North Carolina, Chapel HillMary Story, PhD, RD, University of Minnesota
Best Sources for Consumers • www.dietaryguidelines.gov • www.nhlbi.nih.gov • www.choosemyplate.gov • www.cdc.gov • www.eatright.org • www.health.gov • www.who.intl
Avoid • Non-credentialed opinions • Conspiracy theories that conflict with established evidence. • Resources from companies that stand to make a profit if your follow their recommendations (Tobacco Institute; Institute of Cookies, etc) • “Belief agenda” versus science and fact • Well-meaning family and friends • TV and media hype • Resources with lots of anecdotes, but few credible study results
Seek the Truth • Seek the truth, not a magic bullet.
Obtain: Your Goals • Prevention: Make good decisions and stay healthy • Treatment: Successfully navigate the healthcare system and follow all the necessary directions in order to get well
Process • The more you read and learn,the more you will be able to process information and evaluate what you read.
Process • To successfully process health information, you must consider change. • When it comes to change, do you have… • Ability • Will • Capacity
Process • You can’t always control your condition. • You can control your participation and willingness to learn. • You can also control whether or not you have a support network.
Understand: Make Decisions • Read as much as you can (remember those credible sources). • Ask questions when you visit your healthcare team. • Find professionals that you trust. • Take notes. • Come up with your own action plan.
Ask Me Three! • What is my main problem? • What do I need to do? • Why is it important for me to do this? Source: npsf.org
Health Literacy Tasks • Evaluate information. • Is it good quality? Is it credible? • Analyze risks and benefits. • Calculate dosages. • Interpret test results. • Locate health information and services.
Health Literacy Skills • Visually literate • Do you understand graphs? • Computer literate. • Can you operate a computer? • Information literate • Can you apply information? • Numerically literate • Can you calculate?
Benefits of Health Literacy • People who are health literate are more likely to… • Prevent the flu by getting a flu shot. • Understand medicine labels & instructions. • Have betterhealth.
Benefits of Health Literacy People who are health literate are less likely to… • Be hospitalized. • Have bad disease outcomes. • Spend lots of money on healthcare. • Have increased mortality risks.
Test Your Knowledge:True or False? • Aunt Sally says she always uses a tincture of vinegar and water to avoid getting a sore throat. • A popular TV show host says that coconut oil is healthful. • The Dietary Guidelines for Americans says that saturated fat has been proven to rise cholesterol and it should be limited to less than 10% of your daily calories. • Your doctor says you should visit every year to get your cholesterol checked. • A friend says you should try these supplements to lose weight. • The health food store is running an event to help you avoid gluten.
- Mark Twain “Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.”
Review and Questions • What is health literacy? • The 3 critical components of health literacy… • Obtain – Process • Understand • Healthcare: 3 questions • How to apply health literacy and gain its benefits