A new scientific statement issued by the American Heart Association (AHA) suggests limited health literacy is a major barrier that blocks many people from achieving good cardiovascular health or benefitting from effective treatment for myocardial infarction, heart failure, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases. The statement was published on June 4 in Circulation.
“The opportunities for communication failure by healthcare providers who treat people for heart disease risk factors, heart diseases and strokes are rampant,” said co-author Jared W. Magnani, MD, MSc, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pennsylvania, in a statement released by the AHA. “Many patients do not understand the written materials they receive as part of health care, or do not have the numeric skills to understand quantitative information. Also, medical care uses a considerable amount of specialized terminology, which some call jargon.”
The co-authors found only 12 percent of Americans have the health literacy skills to understand the healthcare system. Additionally, they found:
- More than half the people with little health literacy did not recognize a blood pressure reading of 160/100 mmHg as being abnormal.
- People with low health literacy were more likely to be dependent on nicotine and were three times as likely to relapse after completing a smoking cessation program.
- Diabetics with low health literacy were more likely to develop complications from the disease, including diabetic retinopathy.
- Parents who have overweight children were twice as likely to perceive them to be normal weight.
Magnani et al. recommended physicians to use the Universal Precautions Toolkit, that “calls on healthcare professionals to make changes that improve access to care for all patients.”
Some of the strategies health care professionals can employ may include: avoiding jargon, integrating images, creating understandable forms of literature including health brochures, improving patient follow-up and telephone access, and considering their patient’s culture, customs and beliefs.
“The last decade has seen technological and pharmacologic advances in health care, cardiac devices and mobile health initiatives alongside a growing emphasis on shared decision-making and patient-reported outcomes,” Magnani said. “If we don’t address health literacy these advances won’t benefit many of the people who have the greatest need.”
As a senior news writer for TriMed, Subrata covers cardiology, clinical innovation and healthcare business. She has a master’s degree in communication management and 12 years of experience in journalism and public relations.