Health Literacy

Health Literacy is just as important and fundamental a task as it is to get people to go see the doctor in the first place. Since such a big part of the medical examination depends on obtaining an accurate patient history, miscommunication and not understanding the language can be a HUGE hindrance to quality health care administration that has little to do with the competence of the physician or with the patient. It is important to patient's to become their own advocates and take ownership of their health. Even in cases in which there is absolutely no language barrier what-so-ever, there are medical miscommunications in which patients do not fully understand how to take a particular medication regimen, or become confused from a doctor's medical gargon. In this case, the doctor needs to speak in a clear, non-technical, and concise manner, while the patient is responsible for asking questions and asking for clarifications as needed instead of passively absorbing everything and then missing out on something important. Working with the Literacy Council of Fort Bend County on Health Literacy Awareness has been brought to life at the San Jose Clinic. It is a real problem that needs to be addressed. In October, I put on a health literacy workshop for all of the ESL and basic literacy tutors in hopes that they will incorporate health-related vocabularly and dialogue in their lessons, so as their students learn English, they also learn practical everyday applications. I was proud to present The San Jose Clinic to the tutors to pass on to their students as a place to recieve health care because most of them are uninsured and therefore don't see the point of learning health literacy if they never have any chances of seeing a doctor anyway. But San Jose is offering hope to such individuals! October is Health Literacy Awareness month and I hope to put on the workshop again. Students at the literacy council have even been practicing by role playing doctor visits with a toy doctor's kit so that they can become familiar with common medical situations and how to deal with them.