HSC230: Communication and Health Literacy in Culturally Safe Care

This essay emphasizes the importance of effective communication and health literacy in providing culturally competent healthcare. It highlights how professionals sometimes fail to align their communication styles with patients' cultural backgrounds, leading to feelings of humiliation and disrespect, potentially impacting their health negatively. The essay underscores the need for healthcare professionals to develop cultural knowledge and verbal/nonverbal communication skills to ensure patient satisfaction. Additionally, it discusses health literacy's role in patient compliance, promoting healthy lifestyles, building trust, and preventing hospital readmissions. Health literacy involves educating patients about treatments, alternatives, and preventive strategies, ultimately improving their quality of life and preventing disorders. This resource is available on Desklib, along with other study tools.

Running head: EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AND HEALTH LITERACY
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AND HEALTH LITERACY
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EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AND HEALTH LITERACY
Summary:
Effective communication is an important attribute to provide a culturally competent care
for the patients coming from diverse backgrounds. Often it is seen that professionals fail to
communicate with patients in ways that align with their cultural communication styles and
therefore, patients seems to feel humiliated and disrespected. They tend to develop the feeling
that the professionals do not provide importance to their cultural traditions, preferences and
inhibitions and do not value their dignity and autonomy (Giger, 2016). Therefore, this may make
them depressed where they may not comply with the intervention or feel demoralised. This may
have negative outcomes on their health. Therefore, professionals should develop cultural
knowledge on proper verbal and nonverbal communication skills among different cultures so
that they can provide care that assures high patient satisfaction.
Health literacy is another attribute that has a huge contribution to the development of
health of patients. It ensures compliance of the patient with the interventions, make them develop
good practices of diet and lifestyle, develop trust on the professionals, prevent hospital
readmission and many others. It may be in the form of two components. One of the components
is where the professionals educate the patient about the treatments, its alternatives, the risks and
benefits of the treatment and many others. This reduces their anxiety and fear and helps them to
comply with the treatments (Foster et al., 2016). Another is the education provided to them to
maintain their health and well-being about the prevention strategies, proper lifestyle
interventions, good habits of diets and many others. These would ensure them to develop quality
life and prevent occurrence of any disorders.

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EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AND HEALTH LITERACY
References:
Foster, J., Idossa, L., Mau, L. W., & Murphy, E. (2016). Applying Health Literacy Principles:
Strategies and Tools to Develop Easy-to-Read Patient Education Resources. Clinical
journal of oncology nursing, 20(4).retreived from : http://web.a.ebscohost.com/abstract?
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Giger, J. N. (2016). Transcultural Nursing-E-Book: Assessment and Intervention. Elsevier
Health Sciences.retreived from: https://books.google.co.in/books?
hl=en&lr=&id=XCWKCwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=culturally+competent+com
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