Sample Assignment on Health Literacy
Added on 2021-06-15
8 Pages1847 Words87 Views
|
|
|
Running head: HEALTH LITERACYHEALTH LITERACYName of the StudentName of the universityAuthor’s note
1HEALTH LITERACYHealth literacyThe term health literacy was pioneered in the year 1979 and is of extreme importance inthe world of public health. It is involved with the abilities of the public to address complicateddemands of the health care in this recent world (Sørensen et al., 2012). A health literate can bereferred to as the factors responsible for a particular ill health, the predisposing factors behind theill health and the ways of mitigating them. There is much distinction between health literacy andliteracy in general. As per UNESCO, the word 'literate' is mostly familiar with the knowledge ofliterature or education (Sørensen et al., 2012).This paper strives to focus on health literacy on the context of the indigenous people ofAustralia. The paper would begin by stating the purpose of health literacy, potential barriers tohealth literacy, relevant concept of effective communication and cultural safety to promotehealth literacy. The paper also discusses the possible strategies for spreading the importance ofhealth literacy among indigenous Australians. The realm of health literacy relies in handling words and medical jargons. A report fromthe Vass, Mitchel & Dhurrkay, (2018) indicates that almost half of the Australian populationfaces challenges in understanding the medical terms. However health literacy does not literallymeans that the health information will be only confined to the health care providers, but will alsobe disseminated to the general public such that they can control their health more properly. Health literacy needs an intricate group of reading, listening, critical and decision making skillsand also capability to implement the above skills in appropriate situations.
2HEALTH LITERACYThe burden of diseases experienced by the indigenous Australians is three times morethan the non indigenous counterparts. The dominance of the chronic diseases like type 2diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and chronic obstructive diseases are found in the community.Mental health conditions and infectious diseases like skin infections and scabies are also widelyprevalent among themselves (Place, 2012). This wide spread prevalence of disease provides therationale for health literacy among the aboriginals. The culturally and the linguistically diverse communities needs to access to theknowledge for accessing the advantages of the heath care facilities. It is the health literacy thatinfluences their world views on health and community (Place, 2012). In order to impart fruitfulhealth literacy the health care professionals needs to understand health on their perspective. In order to promote health literacy to people belonging to a culturally diversebackground, the health care service providers should be well aware of the responsibilities theyhave for identifying the health care obstruction and to support the clients to become increasinglyhealth literate by the provision of intelligible information (Place, 2012). Communication is thecrucial aspect of promoting health literacy. Dudgeon & Ugle, (2014) have emphasized on thecommunication gap amidst the health care professional and the aboriginal people. In order tobridge this communication gap, it is necessary to create a non hostile environment for thesepeople. The health information should be provided in English and in various formats to beunderstandable to the people, such as audio-visual aids can be used (Striley & Lawson, 2014).All the information should contain minimum jargon and should include schematic diagrams,symbols and pictures. Appropriate resources should be provided by the funding bodies forensuring the source materials used for translation is of supreme quality (Dudgeon & Ugle, 2014).
End of preview
Want to access all the pages? Upload your documents or become a member.
Related Documents