Health literacy refers to the extent to which persons have the ability to grasp, possess, understand, and communicate basic health concepts necessary to make well-informed health decisions. It calls for the use of a variety of skills that enhance the capacity of individuals to act on health information so that they can have healthier lives. These skills include accessing health care, locating medical information, and analyzing possible health risks as well as benefits. Additionally, communication with healthcare providers, evaluating and interpreting medical tests and information are skills that facilitate understanding of complex information and making appropriate treatment decisions (Riley, 2015).Therefore, the essay will elucidate the importance and relationship of health literacy to effective communication in a culturally diverse setting and the measures taken to enhance health literacy and communication.
Health literacy is important since it facilitates effective communication between the healthcare providers and patients. In a diverse cultural context, it is pertinent to recognize that culture plays a very crucial role in effective communication and it helps us fathom the impact of health literacy in delivering health care. For patients from cultural minority groups, their health literacy levels are influenced by their beliefs, communication styles, their understanding and response to the medical information. Sufficient health literacy is directly linked to good health which is as a result of effective communication in healthcare delivery. Patients who are capable of understanding their health information and making well-informed decisions are in a better position to improve their health status. Together with effective communication, health literacy is an essential component of delivering health information and services since it promotes patient satisfaction, adherence to medical instructions and desirable health outcomes (McClimens, Brewster & Lewis, 2014).
In addition, health literacy is crucial to the quality of care and safety being provided to a patient. For instance, it affects a patient’s ability to access the healthcare procedures in areas such as filling complex medical forms as well as accessing healthcare providers and services. Additionally, a health literate individual is capable of sharing their personal details and health history with the medical professionals. They can also follow medical guidelines and engage in self-care activities, decision making and independent management of chronic diseases. Further, the patient is in a better position to grasp the mathematical and numeric concepts such as risk and probability that relates to their health (Riley, 2015). Conversely, low levels of health literacy lead to undesirable health outcomes like increased rates of hospitalization, unnecessary readmissions, and health deterioration. This can be attributed to the lack of information and comprehension of self-management and prevention guidelines which results in skipping recommended medical procedures, frequent visits to the emergency room and having a difficult time managing chronic illnesses such as asthma, HIV/AIDS, hypertension, and diabetes. Medical professionals have a different and specific language and “culture of medicine” which is as a result of their work environment and training. This, together with the low health literacy levels often affects how they communicate with their patients especially those from diverse cultures (Bess, Boyd, Case, Cordasco, Curran, Davis & Franco, 2015).
Health literacy is directly related to effective communication and it begins right from booking an appointment or registering for a visit to a medical facility, describing one’s signs and symptoms, explaining the risks and advantages of various treatment and comprehending the care instructions. Our health care system is administering care and patient education to a multicultural and multilingual patient population that poses linguistic and limited health literacy barriers to effective communication. The differences in culture and language hinder the attainment and employment of health literacy skills. This is because culture confines the various beliefs, preferences, and values that an individual holds and this influences their health literacy level and the manner in which they interpret medical information. To enhance communication with patients from different cultures, healthcare providers need to be conversant with the patient’s language and culture so as to assess their health literacy levels in a certain situation. Patients who hail from minority groups are more likely to be subjected to the adverse effects of low literacy levels than those from dominant cultures. This is due to the interrelationship between health literacy and effective cross-cultural communication (Bess, Boyd, Case, Cordasco, Curran, Davis & Franco, 2015). When medical professionals want to share health information with patients, their medical jargon may worsen a situation where there is limited literacy as well as cultural disparities. In order to meet patients’ needs, medical providers should be in a position to acknowledge cultural and health literacy barriers to effective communication, extract more information, adapt communication techniques, and care strategies (Nutbeam, McGill & Premkumar, 2017).
Some practical strategies have been applied to promote health literacy and effective communication especially in situations where there are cultural disparities. To begin with, health practitioners should refrain from using heavy medical jargon and terminology and stick to use of simple and plain language. Where the vocabulary is inevitable, they should clarify and define it appropriately. Combining and limiting the number of messages depending on the information needs of the patient and the use of familiar language in an active voice is also advisable. Instead of being general, it is important that they give specific information on recommended actions and suggest the specific actions that they would want the patient to take. They should use open-ended questions that do not limit the patient’s response(Riley, 2015). Where there are cultural and linguistic barriers, a medically trained interpreter could be useful in communicating health information in the patient’s primary language. The interpreter ought to use examples that are culturally relevant to the patient’s norms, beliefs, and values. This ensures that they are clear and helps to minimize the risks of misinterpretation and misunderstanding (Bess, Boyd, Case, Cordasco, Curran, Davis & Franco, 2015).
Moreover, health care providers should assess the understanding and literacy levels of the patient before, during and after the dissemination of the medical information. The “teach-back” technique could be used whereby the patient is asked to rephrase in their own words what the provider has instructed. To determine what information the users require, the health provider should talk to them first, then text various messages and services in order to get feedback. Further, the medical providers need to use visuals to aid in communication by supplementing instructions with pictures especially where the information is technical. The pictorial messages should be culturally relevant and familiar to the patient (Nutbeam, McGill & Premkumar, 2017).In addition, they should acknowledge and respect the cultural differences and practices and ensure that the health information being disseminated is relevant to the cultural context of the intended user. Also, there is need to enhance the usage of online information on the internet by supplementing written texts with audio and video files. To make online information more convenient to persons with limited health literacy skills, it is important to use patient-centered principles and designs as well as carrying out a usability test to assess its efficiency. The healthcare system should generally organize a training program for the health staff and professionals to participate in training in areas that affect communication efficiency such as health literacy, use of plain language and cultural competency (McClimens, Brewster & Lewis, 2014).
Further, communication in a culturally diverse environment is imperative, as it is s tool best used to have quality and safe patient care. In cases of language barrier, lines of communication can be closed leading to a lowered patient satisfaction, which substantially affects the clinical outcome. According to a research conducted by Riley (2015), readmissions in hospital can be reduce or avoided if adequate communication between the healthcare provider and the patient is maintained. Despite the cultural diversities, the health care provider should utilize principles and methodologies in order to communicate an effectively. One of the best strategies is to instill trust between the patient and the health care providers. Nurses can achieve this objective by being friendly to these patients. For instance, nurses can opt to smile and use a calm and friendly voice when addressing patients. Further, nurses can make patients trust them by introducing themselves and explaining to the patients how he or she is going to help them. By doing this, patients get to be more comfortable with the health care providers which makes them open up to the nurses leading to an improved health care delivery. Therefore, despite the cultural differences, nurses should use these small gestures in communication to bring a big difference in health care delivery.
In conclusion, the relationship of health literacy to effective communication in a culturally diverse setting is vital, this call for health providers to enhance communication in a culturally diverse environment in order to create patient satisfaction. Health care providers are faced with the task of improving individual and community health standards. To do so, they have to acknowledge and address the disparities in culture, language and the health literacy levels of the diverse population since this affects the effectiveness of cross-cultural communication in the dissemination of important health information. Strategies that enhance the health literacy levels and effective communication with patients especially in culturally diverse contexts should be implemented.
References
Bess, K. D., Boyd, D. L., Case, L. D., Cordasco, K. M., Curran, J. W., Davis, D.,& Franco, I. (2015). Health Literacy. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 40(6), 608-615.
McClimens, A., Brewster, J., & Lewis, R. (2014). Recognising and respecting patients’ cultural diversity. Nursing Standard, 28(28), 45-52.
Nutbeam, D., McGill, B., &Premkumar, P. (2017). Improving health literacy in community populations. Health Promotion International.
Riley, J. B. (2015). Effective communication in nursing. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Essay Writing Service Features
Our Experience
No matter how complex your assignment is, we can find the right professional for your specific task. Contact Essay is an essay writing company that hires only the smartest minds to help you with your projects. Our expertise allows us to provide students with high-quality academic writing, editing & proofreading services.
Free Features
Free revision policy
$10Free bibliography & reference
$8Free title page
$8Free formatting
$8How Our Essay Writing Service Works
First, you will need to complete an order form. It's not difficult but, in case there is anything you find not to be clear, you may always call us so that we can guide you through it. On the order form, you will need to include some basic information concerning your order: subject, topic, number of pages, etc. We also encourage our clients to upload any relevant information or sources that will help.
Complete the order form
Once we have all the information and instructions that we need, we select the most suitable writer for your assignment. While everything seems to be clear, the writer, who has complete knowledge of the subject, may need clarification from you. It is at that point that you would receive a call or email from us.
Writer’s assignment
As soon as the writer has finished, it will be delivered both to the website and to your email address so that you will not miss it. If your deadline is close at hand, we will place a call to you to make sure that you receive the paper on time.
Completing the order and download