RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Recognizing and overcoming inadequate health literacy, a barrier to care
JF Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine
JO Cleve Clin J Med
FD Cleveland Clinic
SP 415
OP 418
VO 69
IS 5
A1 Mark V. Williams
YR 2002
UL http://www.ccjm.org/content/69/5/415.abstract
AB Health literacy—the ability to understand and act on health information—is essential for high-quality care. Many people, especially the elderly, who bear the greatest burden of disease, have inadequate health literacy. This adversely affects their quality of care, and places increased cost burdens on society. Learning to recognize when a patient may have low literacy skills and understanding the common ways in which these people misinterpret medical information can help physicians develop strategies to improve patients’ health literacy.