Health Literacy: Our Children and the Future

It is the growing belief that any future advances made in improving the nation’s health will not result from spectacular biomedical breakthroughs.  Rather, advances will result from personally initiated actions that are directly influenced by the individual’s health-related attitudes, beliefs and knowledge.  School health education can make a valuable contribution in areas such as these and can play an important role in improving the quality of living.

The American Medical Association

 

What is health literacy?

Health literacy, as defined by the National Library of Medicine, is the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.  This includes the ability to understand health information found on hospital forms and in doctor’s instructions, instructions on prescription medicines, information in health brochures, on charts or through technology based forms like videos, CD’s and Internet resources. 

Efforts to improve health literacy are not simply about teaching people to read, but instead address the need for effective communication skills in the complex world of health care.  Health literacy requires a combination of reading, listening, analytical and decision making skills and the ability to effectively apply these skills in a health care environment.  

How does health literacy affect our health care system?

As the complexity of our health care system increases, so does the need for awareness about health literacy.  Health literate people enjoy healthier, more productive lives.  Individuals who do not understand basic health information often fail to get the health treatment they need initially and subsequently end up adding substantial costs to the system with additional health care.  People with low health literacy are often less likely to comply with prescribed treatment and self-care regimens, fail to seek preventative care and are at a higher risk for hospitalization.  Compounding the problem is the fact that patients often hide their confusion from their doctors, because they are too embarrassed to ask for help.  Low health literacy acts as an obstacle to good health for many individuals, is seen as a main factor in current health epidemics such as obesity and results in tens of billions of dollars of added costs to the United States health system each year.

The Institute of Medicine has noted that approximately 90 million people, representing nearly half of all American adults, have difficulty understanding information about their health care.  Studies have shown that people are affected by low health literacy regardless of age, race, income or education levels.

Why is it important to address health literacy with our children?
 
Clear health communication leads to better health outcomes for individuals, reduced costs for the health care system and provides additional benefits for our economy.  Preventative health education in the formative years is seen as the key to improving the health literacy of our population in the future. The Institute of Medicine noted in its 2004 report, Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion, that the U.S. school systems offer a primary point of intervention to improve the quality of health literacy.  Students educated about health and healthy lifestyle choices grow into happier, healthier and more productive adults with higher health literacy skills.  Studies have indicated that individuals who are health literate have the skills to better achieve and maintain physical, social and emotional health.  Students offered health education will be better able to contribute to the nation’s economic competitiveness by working more effectively, missing fewer days from work due to injury and illness, using fewer medical services due to prevention or delayed onset of disease, and by reducing the use of health insurance benefits.  While recent programs have been developed to assist the adult population and health care providers with literacy issues, it is the K-12 educational system that offers real promise for advances in health literacy and consequently, for improving the health of our nation.

How can overall health literacy be improved through education in our schools?

Comprehensive health education programs encourage students to take responsibility for their own well being by making healthy choices in the present and by establishing positive health practices that will lead to lifelong wellness.  The Joint Committee on National Health Education Standards produced a report in 1995 specifically addressing low health literacy and student education.  The National Health Education Standards (NHES): Achieving Health Literacy report was developed by a coalition of professional organizations and non-profit agencies and provides standards to identify what knowledge and skills students should know and be able to do, in order to achieve health literacy.  The NHES report also outlines obstacles that have impeded health education programs in the past and offers “Opportunities to Learn” recommendation standards for future development in health education.  An update on this report is due out later in 2006, which will provide additional guidance in the area of health literacy education. 

How can IAH help to improve health literacy through our children?

At the Institute for America’s Health, our “prevention first” theme remains at the forefront of our approach to health literacy.  IAH is working to provide educational opportunities for today’s youth in order to reduce problems associated with low health literacy in the future.  By conducting research, offering classroom programs that work around noted obstacles to health education, coordinating with health education providers and other health industry leaders and supporting public policies that increase health education awareness, IAH is optimistic about increasing health literacy for the next generation.  IAH is committed to programs designed to teach children today, the skills that they need for a healthier tomorrow.

The National Health Education Standards

In 1995, the Joint Committee on National Health Standards published the National Health Education Standards (NHES) subtitled Achieving Health Literacy (Joint Committee on National Health Education Standards, 1995).  The standards describe the knowledge and skills essential for health literacy and detail what students should know and be able to do in health education by the end of grades 4, 8 and 11.  The standards describe a health-literate person as a critical thinker and problem solver, a responsible, productive citizen, a self-directed learner and an effective communicator.

The National Health Education Standards:

 

The NHES identified obstacles that continue to impede health education programs, including the following issues:

 

This represents the work of the Joint Committee on National Health Education Standards.  Copies of National Health Education Standards: Achieving Health Literacy can be obtained through the American School Health Association, Association for the Advancement of Health Education or the American Cancer Society.

The NHES report also included Opportunity to Learn standards.  These standards provide guidance for program implementation to local education agencies, communities, state education agencies, national organizations, and institutions of higher learning responsible for teacher training.  The Opportunity to Learn standards establish a call to action, outlining strategies to improve the delivery of health education initiatives.  Examples of these standards include the following:

 

In developing the National Standards, the Joint Committee operated with the following set of assumptions:

 

Health literacy can save lives, save money and improve the health and well being of millions of Americans … health literacy is the currency of success for everything that I am doing as Surgeon General.