Case Study Of Health Literacy

Running head: HEALTH LITERACY
Health Literacy
Name of the student
University name
Author’s note

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HEALTH LITERACY
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Key health literacy issues................................................................................................................3
Impact of two important literacy issues on the health of the person...............................................5
Actions are undertaken for improving health of the person............................................................6
Conclusion and reflection................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................9

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HEALTH LITERACY
Introduction
Health literacy refers to the amount of knowledge possessed by individuals regarding the
standards and aspects of management of individual health. The health literacy can be defined as
the capacity of individuals to gather and process health related information. The case study for
the current report focuses upon Mark who is a man at in the end of his 40’s and belongs to the
Australian aboriginal or indigenous population group. In this context, the man belongs to the
indigenous group of Australians.
The indigenous group of Australians often have to suffer from a number of racial
discrimination based upon their unique culture and language. Most of the times, such social
exclusion emanates into illiteracy about different social and health contexts. The lifestyle and
health patterns of an individual are often influenced by the social determinants of health. Some
of these factors include the birth place of an individual, habitation culture and patterns and the
work culture of a person. These factors contribute significantly towards shaping the health
possessed by an individual.
Background information of the population group
Strictly talking, about the health literacy rates of the indigenous Australians smoking has
been a common peril among the group. As per the estimate of 2012-2013, 2 out of 5 young
indigenous Australians belonging to the age group of 15 and above were found to be addicted to
smoking. Reports and evidence have suggested that around 22 % of the indigenous Australians
have been reported being addicted to illicit substances, which is 3% higher than their non-
indigenous counterparts. Research and evidence suggest that around 62% of the indigenous

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HEALTH LITERACY
Australians aged 18 and above had reported less physical activities, which was 10% higher than
the non-indigenous counterparts (Abs.gov.au, 2017).This could be attributed to the absence of
health literacy within the population group. As commented by Weir et al. (2016), incorporating
social inclusion policies could help in reducing the gap in the services
Reports and evidences had suggested that out of majority of the Asian immigrants, the
Chinese comprised around 23.8% of the population (Leung et al. 2017). The prevalence of
undiagnosed diabetes was estimated at 11.4 % which was 3.8% more compared to the national
average.
Key health literacy issues
Identification of the health literacy issues
The indigenous Australians suffer three times more than their non-indigenous
counterparts. The indigenous Australians suffer from a range of chronic diseases such as renal
disease, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, being some of the few. The state, as well as the
federal government, has emphasized upon the implementation of the ‘Close the gap campaign’
which focuses upon catering to the health requirements of the indigenous Australians. In this
context, Health Literacy could be defined as the skills and competencies possessed by an
individual to process and evaluate health related information to make wise choices, reduce the
health risks within a community. As commented by Sorensen et al. (2015), a health literate
person should be able to participate in dialogues and understand the treatment methods and
procedures relevant to the health condition of an individual. In this context, a number of health
literacy issues related to Mark and the indigenous Australian community could be identified such
as the difference between languages of the indigenous Australians to that of the white