Health Literacy Is Defined As The “The Capacity To Obtain,

Health literacy is defined as the â€Å"the capacity to obtain, communicate, process, and understand basic health information and services to make appropriate health decisions† (Koh et al., 2012, p. 1). When a patient has poor health literacy, they are more likely to have a poor outcome in regards to their health. There are bills and initiatives that address the need for patients to increase their health literacy as well as the healthcare providers’ responsibilities to provide the information in a way that is understandable and actionable. As future nurses, we must also understand how health literacy will impact our practice and how we can help those with low health literacy. In 2010 the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was†¦show more content†¦Understandable is how easy the information is understood and actionable means the healthcare consumer can identify what actions they need to take. This test is valid for both printed and audiovisual materials. By using this test, a healthcare professional can identify material that is appropriate to use based on the understandability and actionability of the material (Shoemaker, Wolf, Brach, 2014) In 2010 the ACA was passed, it established a Hospital Readmission Reduction Program. What this program did was to penalize hospitals if a patient gets readmitted for the same condition within 30 days of being discharged. Readmissions are significant because they account for approximately one-third of the nation’s health costs. When hospitals use a patient-centered discharge process, the patients are then able to reconcile their medications, follow-up with community-based providers, and self-manage their diseases and treatments. The patient-centered discharge process helps to reduce hospital readmissions. (Cloonan, Wood, Riley, 2013) By properly educating the patient before discharge it reduces the risk of the patient getting readmitted. Discharging a patient without proper education can result in the patient improperly discontinuing their medication or failing to follow-up with their primary care provider. When we are communicating with patients, we must use clear and basic language and understand that the patient may not be health literate. By using specificShow MoreRelatedHealth Literacy Is Considered A Motivating Factor Behind Wellness And The Absence Of Disease1531 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction: Health Literacy resides beneath the umbrella of social determinants; aptitude in this form of literacy is a determinant of wellbeing, and influences vulnerabilities and capacities towards disease formation and prevention (Reading Wien, 2009). Health literacy is considered a motivating factor behind wellness and the absence of disease but also for appropriate management with regard to chronic disease with maximisation of outcomes directly attributing to health literacy capacity. 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