Health Literacy and Culturally Competent Communication in Healthcare

This report delves into the critical aspects of health literacy and culturally competent communication within the healthcare sector. It emphasizes the importance of linguistic competence and non-verbal communication, highlighting how these elements contribute to effective patient-provider interactions. The report underscores the significance of understanding diverse cultural perspectives to enhance patient care, improve health outcomes, and reduce health disparities. It also discusses the benefits of health literacy, such as improved patient understanding, trust, and adherence to treatment, as well as the negative consequences of poor health literacy, including increased hospitalizations and medication errors. The report references key studies and guidelines, providing a comprehensive overview of the topic and its implications for healthcare professionals. It aims to educate healthcare providers on how to communicate effectively with patients from diverse backgrounds.

COMMUNICATION AND HEALTH
LITERACY IN CULTURALLY
COMPETENT MANNER

Culturally competent communication:
• attribute between the patients as well as the healthcare providers has
become a critical element for developing quality of the care provided to
patients
• Australia has become a nation where people from various backgrounds
have found secured shelter in the nation and are living stable lives
(Douglas et al., 2014)
• the healthcare-centres need to prepare their employees in ways by which
they can meet the needs and requirements of the patients who come to
seek healthcare service from the healthcare centres in culturally
competent way

Two forms of communication
• linguistic competence –verbal communication
• Body language – non verbal communication

linguistic competence –verbal
communication
organisations mainly help the professional to develop linguistic competence
in two ways.
• The organisation can educate the professionals to develop the language
knowledge of the most common culturally diverse patients of the nation
who come for healthcare service.
• organisations are now a days trying to appoint professional trained
interpreters who are helping the healthcare providers to communicate
with the patients successfully.

Body language –non-verbal communication:
• Eye contact while communicating and caring for the patient
are perceived by different cultures in different ways and
therefore professionals should be well aware of this nonverbal
communication skill.
• the sense of touch is also perceived by different cultures of
patients in different ways and therefore, professionals should
e careful about these features

Health literacy:
• degree by which individuals can obtain, process and thereby understand
information and services on health by which they can make appropriate health
decisions
• Health literacy is composed of two components. One of them is the treatment-
based information.
• Another component helps the patients to educate about the disorder that had
occurred to them, the different ways that they can adopt to overcome the
symptoms.
• It also tells them the ways by which they can modify their lifestyle, diets, different
habits and others so that they can develop better quality lives.

Benefits:
• capability to understand their disorder, the severity of the disorder that
compels them to align with the interventions and recommendations of the
professional
• influences the attitude as well as the behaviour of the patient
• It also helps to develop trust among the patients increasing the
opportunities for treatment acceptance
• ensuring continuity of care between the appointments
• clear out misconceptions that many individuals coming from other
backgrounds

Negative outcomes due to lack of health literacy:
• poorer knowledge as well as understanding of the medical conditions
• higher are rate of hospitalisation associated with adverse events
• reduced utilisation of the different types of preventative health services
• Increased level of medication errors (Betancourt et al., 2016)
• higher levels of hospital readmissions, higher mortality, and unnecessary
emergency room presentations

References:
• Betancourt, J. R., Corbett, J., & Bondaryk, M. R. (2014). Addressing
disparities and achieving equity: cultural competence, ethics, and health-
care transformation. Chest, vol ;145(1), pp 143-148.
https://doi.org/10.1378/chest.13-0634
• Douglas, M. K., Rosenkoetter, M., Pacquiao, D. F., Callister, L. C., Hattar-
Pollara, M., Lauderdale, J., ... & Purnell, L. (2014). Guidelines for
implementing culturally competent nursing care. Journal of Transcultural
Nursing, vol 25(2), pp109-121.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1043659614520998

Thank you