Clear health communication is a critical component of the health care delivery system. It affects the continuum of care from prevention and screening to history taking to explaining a diagnosis and treatment.
Millions of American adults – 90 million – have trouble understanding health information. This is known as low health literacy, and its scope and impact has serious consequences for individual patient outcomes and the health care system as a whole.
Health literacy can be a hidden problem because it is often not recognized by policy makers and health care providers, and because people with low literacy skills or who are confused about health care may be ashamed to speak up about problems they encounter with the increasingly complex health system.
Low health literacy costs the United States billions of dollars each year. By focusing on inexpensive and easy-to-implement clear health communication solutions, the health care community can improve patient understanding of provider instructions with the goal of better health outcomes, and help patients navigate the health care system more effectively.
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