When it comes to COVID-19 in America, the country represents four percent of the global population but accounts for 22% of global COVID-19 deaths. The convergence of misrepresentation and rapid growth contagious are considered interrelated. Social media has played a significant role in the spread of myths and misconceptions concerning COVID-19, and as a result, health literacy has become critical to fighting the virus. Misinformation has come to define COVID-19 due to unrelenting public fables misinformation on everything from the virus being a hoax, untested cures, and the uselessness of wearing facemasks. Health literacy is the extent to which the public and patients can acquire and understand essential health knowledge required to make proper health choices and decisions. The inquiry employs a content analysis of current literature and qualitative interviews to explore practical organizational adaptive approaches that promote COVID-19 health literacy.
TopOverview
Low health literacy is a public health travesty. Health information and health literacy around COVID 19 is a miscalculated public health conundrum. Zarocostas (2020) referred to the COVID 19 not as a pandemic but an info-demic because of the need for patients to be more health literate when they are being bombarded by inaccurate or misleading information from social media, public officials, and family. During a global pandemic, the need to understand and explore health literacy's nuances has never been more pressing. This qualitative exploratory study uses the expertise of subject matter experts on health literacy to classify the barriers to health information literacy, the best practices for improving health information literacy, and the additional measures are taken by medical providers during the COVID 19 outbreak ensure that patients have the most accurate and useful health information. Health literacy is an area in need of significant attention in health information management and health services delivery because it is often a critical factor in disease risk management. Health literacy is essential with the outbreak of COVID 19, especially in an age when so much inaccurate health information is readily available.
Paakkari and Okan (2020) outlined that health literacy concerning COVID 19, also known as the Coronavirus, is an underestimated public health challenge. Zarocostas (2020) referred to the COVID 19 not as a pandemic but an infodemic because of the need for patients to be more health literate at a time when they are being bombarded by inaccurate or misleading information from social media. COVID 19 has created two significant public health paradoxes (Paakkari & Okan, 2020). One has to do with the importance of health literacy as a critical aspect of risk management in contagious diseases (Paakkari & Okan, 2020). The second has to do with the need for accurate information for everyone regarding pandemic planning and risk (Paakkari & Okan, 2020). High levels of health literacy and compliance depend on reliable and readily available information on the nature of threats, disease transmission, risk safety protocols, and protective measures (Paakkari and Okan, 2020; Zarocostas, 2020). With COVID 19, a significant number of people lack accurate information on the symptoms, proper risk management strategies and believe in fictitious conspiracy theories concerning the existence, emergence, and risks of the disease (Frieden, 2020). According to Spring (2020), since the outbreak of COVID 19, social media and the Internet have burst with a significant amount of false news and information about the disease, which has hampered health literacy. Incorrect Social media stories, citizens, and politicians have distributed conflicting messages about the symptoms of COVID 19, how it is transmitted, and the effectiveness of gloves and face masks (Spring, 2020; Frieden, 2020).
TopHealth Literacy
Health literacy is an individual's capacity to obtain, interpret, and understand the necessary health information and services to improve their health (Andrews, 2014). The supposition is that for patients to accomplish health literacy duties, they must be acquainted with health-related terms, comprehend discharge instructions, understand medication instructions, and have some actionable knowledge of how a health care system works so they can navigate it to access the care they need (Grace, 2016; Smith, 2020; Andrews, 2014; Jean, 2017).