Say Ah! Health Literacy Presentation
Is Your Health Prepared? Planning and preparing for medical emergencies is easier than you think. This workshop will help you understand important documents and give you tips for how to organize them so you are prepared for unplanned medical events
Health literacy is the ability to find and understand basic health and medical information and services so that you can make smart choices about your health. It plays an important – and often overlooked – role in our wellness. Low health literacy can often be a hidden cause of poor health. Studies have shown health literacy to be a better predictor of our wellness than age, income, race, or education level.
Health literacy plays an important role in your life because it impacts almost every aspect of your health and health care, including:
-Taking your medicine correctly
-Knowing what questions to ask your doctor (or even knowing that it’s okay to ask your doctor questions)
-Being able to choose the right cold medicine at the drug store
-Speaking up if the doctor hasn’t washed her hands, or if you need the nurse to repeat directions
-Making sense of nutrition labels on foods
-Understanding the benefits and risks of a treatment
-Comprehending the legal language in a consent form or other materials, such as a patient bill of rights or health proxy