|
Group Information
|
|
|---|---|
| Group Title: | |
| Related Topics: | |
| Overview & Vision: |
Health literacy 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. Young adults are among the most affected by low rates of health literacy. Increased health literacy can lead to fewer chronic health condtions, better lifestyle choices, and a more complete understanding of one's medical rights. My vision is one where people understand their health insurance and how to navigate it. And based on this understanding of their health insurance, they maintain a healthier lifestyle. It's a vision of a world where people understand their doctor or nurse when speaking to them and do not leave the hospital or office completely confused. |
| Leaders: |
Leaders for my group are people who teach others about health. This includes almost everyone in a health related profession: doctors, nurses, PAs, school nurses, health teachers, and activists.
|
| Rationale: |
An increased rate of health literacy is important because health harming consequences of low health literacy include increased medical costs, lack of insurance, chronic health conditions and poor healthy lifestyle choices. Studies show that young adults are uninsured at almost double the rate of older adults. In addition, an alarming 51% of people do not understand basic health insurance terms. This is important because a lack of insurance increases healthcare costs. The cost of low health literacy to the US economy was estimated to be between $106 billion and $238 billion. Further, nearly 9 out of 10 adults have difficulty using health information to make decisions about their health. No one should ever feel confused about making an important decision about their health. They should be able to understand the problem, the solutions of lack thereof, and the costs.
|
| Goals and Objectives: |
I hope to reduce health harming consequences of low health literacy. I hope that at last one young adult in the room during the presentation can walk away feeling more confident in their healthcare decisions.
|
| Date: | |