A comprehensive study of adult literacy first conducted in 1992 by the Educational Testing Services on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education. The study measured the English literacy skills of a random sample of individuals in the United States aged 16 years and older.
Published in Chapter:
Health Literacy: An Essential Ingredient for Better Health Outcomes – Overview of Health Literacy Theoretical Concepts
Glenda Denson Knight (Cutting Edge Health Options, USA)
Copyright: © 2014
|Pages: 28
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-6260-5.ch016
Abstract
The design of the U.S. healthcare system along with increasing expectations of individuals create barriers to health care. One barrier is limited Health Literacy (HL). This essential healthcare ingredient is often disregarded (Murphy-Knoll, 2007). There is debate concerning the definition of HL (Sorensen, Van den Broucke, Fullam, Doyle, Pelikan, Slonska, & Brand, 2012). Still, there is consensus that HL is necessary for quality healthcare (Parker & Gazmararian, 2003) and that HL deficiencies must be addressed. Limited HL independently contributes to poorer health status, greater risk of hospitalizations, and increased likelihood of mortality (Hanchate, Ash, Gazmararian, Wolf, & Paasche-Orlow, 2008; Jeppesen, Coyle, & Miser, 2009). Much is known about HL. Still, few advancements have been made due to gaps between what we know about HL, and the application of that knowledge (Ishikiawa & Kiuchi, 2010). The purpose of this chapter is to provide a HL overview and recommend improvement strategies.