Health Literacy and Child Health Outcomes ― Promoting Effective Health Communication Strategies to Improve Quality of Care

This book offers an overview of the definition and impact of health literacy on health communication and health outcomes in the context of child health. Readers will understand what it is like to experience the health care system from the standpoint of a patient with low health literacy skills. Readers will learn five health literacy strategies for improving health communication with all patients. Those who are interested in improving systems and educating others about health literacy will find information relevant to medical education, as well as a list of resources for medical professionals and patients. Finally, this book summarizes the implications of health literacy in child health policy and future research.

The Institute of Medicine defines health literacy as the ability to obtain, process, and understand medical information and use this information to make appropriate health decisions. Approximately 77 million American adults have low health literacy skills. The most recent national survey of adult literacy showed that almost a third of the parents in the survey had low health literacy skills. Low health literacy has been linked with less understanding of health information and preventive services, as well as increased health care costs. Children whose parents have low health literacy skills may experience poorer health outcomes and medication errors.

Health literacy is one of the key components of clear health communication. Many pediatricians believe that they are excellent communicators. Unfortunately, studies have shown that doctors often use medical jargon and fail to check for patients’ understanding of medical information. Health literacy as an important element of effective health communication is becoming an increasingly recognized topic in allied health and undergraduate medical education, but more work needs to be done at the graduate and continuing medical education levels.

Rosina Avila Connelly, MD, MPH, is an associate professor of Pediatrics in the Division of General Pediatrics of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine in Mobile, Alabama. Connelly also is a physician leader of Outpatient General Pediatrics at the Children's Medical Center and a member of the Patient Safety and Medical Error Reduction Committee at the USA Children's and Women's Hospital, both of which are affiliated with the University of South Alabama Health System.