An important part of being an informed patient or patient-centered healthcare provider is understanding health literacy. According to the Centers for Disease Control, personal health literacy “is the degree to which individuals have the ability to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others.” For more than 20 years, Health Literacy Month has offered an opportunity to recognize the importance of making health information easier to understand and act on, and to come together as organizations and communities to raise health literacy awareness and help make that happen. Help shift health literacy awareness to health literacy action this October.

Here in New Mexico, the University of New Mexico Hospital is working on the effort year-round through its Health Literacy Office, which is dedicated to improving the ways health information is communicated so that patients can find and understand health information in order to get the care they need.

The UNMH team helps staff create clear, reader-friendly written materials, which are also translated to Spanish and Vietnamese. The office also teaches staff to speak clearly and check for understanding and helps individuals decipher health information. If you have been given a document that is hard to understand, you can fill out this pdf and send it to the team at healthliteracy@salud.unm.edu.

Patients Rising, a nonprofit organization, also offers some strategies for patients to follow to improve their health literacy. Before your next doctor appointment, check out these tips:

• Write down a list of questions before you go to each appointment so that nothing is forgotten
• Ask for clarification if something doesn’t make sense
  • Patients learn in different ways – is there a different way the information can be explained? (i.e. drawings, pictures, etc.)
• Have a caregiver with you – two sets of eyes and ears are better than one
• If the doctor doesn’t speak your native language, bring a trusted friend or family member that can help interpret. Alternatively, ask the front desk staff if an interpreter can be provided (interpreter services are more available than ever)
• Ask how to interpret your lab results – what do they mean, what is considered the normal range, what should you be concerned about, etc.
• Ask if there are different treatment options that fall in line with what you value as a patient
  • Ask if these treatments are covered by your insurance
  • Ask if coupons are available to help offset costs for medications that are more expensive

Improving health literacy is also important in the mental health arena. As the World Health Organization says, there is “no health without mental health.” By improving health literacy, we can get better treatment for mental health conditions.