Literacy skills

According a report published by the American Medical Association Ad Hoc Committee on Health Literacy, more than 40 percent of patients with chronic illnesses are functionally illiterate, and almost a quarter of all adult Americans read at or below a fifth grade level. Unfortunately, medical information leaflets typically are written at or above a tenth grade reading level. It is estimated that low health literacy skills have increased our annual health care expenditures by 73 billion. Further contributing to the dilemma is the fact that an estimated three-quarters of patients throw out the medication leaflet stapled to the prescription bag without reading it, and only one-half of all patients take their medications as directed (AMA, 1999). 

Patients who read poorly or not at all are at high risk for poor adherence. According to the U.S. Department of Education National Adult Literacy Survey, 40 million people in the United States are functionally illiterate and another 55 million are only marginally literate. Patients with low literacy skills are less likely to be adherent to their medication regimens and appointments, or to present for care early in the course of their disease. 

Inadequate health literacy skills have been shown to adversely affect the management of a number of chronic diseases, including diabetes and hypertension. For example, in a study of hospitalized patients, 49% of patients with hypertension and 44% of those with diabetes were found to have inadequate health literacy. In that study, as many as 50% of patients did not understand how many times a prescription should be refilled. After examining a standard appointment slip, up to 33% could not describe when a follow-up appointment was scheduled. 

Weiss, B.D. Communicating with patients who have limited literacy skills. Report of the National Work Group... 

Careful screening of applicants during the hiring process is the first step in developing a competent, well-trained work force. New employee physicals, substance abuse screening, and skill testing can help identify individuals with the aptitude, literacy skills, and mental and physical capacity needed to handle a particular job and to understand the hazards associated with that job. 

Physics—fluids, temperature, pressure, heat transfer, work, and energy Math and statistics Basic equipment and technology Computer literacy skills Communication skills On-the-job skills... 

Poor literacy skills KS 2/3 SATS Performance in line with potential... 

Reading Companion A Interactive Web-Based Tutor for Increasing Literacy Skills... 

Notwithstanding the importance of all the elements inclnded, this helps to illustrate some of the difficulties encountered by professionals when measuring outcomes which are neither assessed according to numerical scores, nor linear in progression. For example, a child s physical health can deteriorate in ways such that literacy skills, once acquhed, are unlikely to be lost. And, if it is difficult to make judgements about physical health over time, then how much more so is measuring the achievement and maintenance of smdents mental and emotional health ... 

Several staff commented that many of the students do not have sufficient literacy skills to cope with the mainstream secondary curriculum. According to a senior... 

No one system will work for every situation, but engineers must ask themselves if a Web page is up-to-date, reliable, credible, and accurate before using any of its information. The CARDS method provides some simple steps engineers can use in evaluating information resources until they gain experience and their information literacy skills become more developed. One basic rule is to not use Web sites simply because they are more convenient. A Web site, like other resources, must add some value and provide quality information. 

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