Dr. Obumneke AmadiInfluence of Poor Health Literacy on Public Health Leaders

Ways Low Health Literacy Might Influence the Actions of Public Health Leaders

It is a clear and simple understanding that health professionals owns the responsibility to

communicate health literacy to individuals or the general population. When individuals receive

correct, applicable information concerning a health issue, with health literacy they are in a better

position to take action to protect and improve their health behaviors. However, without

sufficient communication of information, individuals cannot be expected to embrace the healthy

behaviors or changed behaviors, including the recommendations that accompanies it. Public

health leaders may experience some setbacks in disseminating health messages to their target

group or to the general population which may also hinder their ability to fully take on an action

towards a health problem that requires to be addressed in the community as a result of low

literacy e.g. some ways health literacy may influence the actions of public health leaders include:

(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010)

1. Individuals with low literacy cannot be expected to adopt the health behaviors or engage

in decision making and change activities because they do not have clear understanding of

information communicated to them, thereby limiting the desired outcome of the program

goal by the public health leaders. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010)

2. It may decrease participation in population health programs e.g. in screening and

immunization programs which may be as a result of decreased capacity to act

independently based on knowledge (Nutbeam, 2000, p.266)

Ways Media Information May Impact the Development of my Public Health Campaign

Media health message such as Radio, reaches out to listeners with Language and cultural

barriers in the diverse population to efficiently access health care and navigate the health service

system in their own dialect. In addition, talk shows, feature news reports, educational messages,

and mini radio drama are all designed and used in different communities locally and

internationally to create health behavior changes, community action, and health policy changes

(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). Media information may Impact the

development of my public health campaign by the following examples (1) Studies have shown

that picture-based directions from the internet or other medial visual tools used in social

marketing promote better understanding of how to take medication and decrease medication

errors among patients and (2) According to the research conducted by Zoellner, J., et al.(2011)

to evaluate an entertainment-based patient decision aid for early stage breast cancer surgery in

low health literacy patients, the result established that utilizing an entertainment education

strategy designed to make information more accessible and understandable to lower literate

women appears to assist them in making informed breast cancer surgery decisions(Zoellner, J., et

al.,2011)

In summary, understanding health literacy in individuals will support public health

leaders to take actions to accomplish desired goals towards health problems to be addressed in

the population, in addition, using mass media entertaining learning may be an appropriate

strategy for informing low literacy individuals of health matters in the environment and also

engage them in change behavior.

Reference

DON NUTBEAM (2000). Health literacy as a public health goal: a challenge for contemporary

health education and communication strategies into the 21st century. Retrieved from

http://www.allianzgesundheitskompetenz.ch/logicio/client/allianz/file/Literatur/

Health_Promot._Int.2000Nutbeam25967.pdf

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011). Health literacy. Baltimore, MD: Author.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2010). Limited Health Literacy as a Public

Health Problem. Retrieved from

http://www.health.gov/communication/hlactionplan/pdf/Health_Literacy_Action_Plan.pd

Zoellner, J., et al. (2011). Health literacy is associated with health eating index scores and sugar-

sweetened beverage intake: Findings from the rural lower Mississippi delta. Journal of

the American Dietetic Association, 111(7), 1012-1020