Health Literacy: Why it Matters
Written by Terry Witherell, First Literacy Executive Director
Well, it’s November! While we often think of November as the start of the holiday season, November is also significant for a less glamorous (or fun!) reason: it’s open enrollment time for many health insurance plans. Approximately 2.3 million people are enrolled in MassHealth alone.
Most of us don’t relish reviewing our health care benefits and determining if there are other plans we should consider; but it is something we shouldn’t avoid. As I began to consider my options, I realized that considering which health plan to choose requires various types of literacy. While choosing a health insurance plan includes the ability to read and comprehend all of the print material, it also requires health literacy and financial literacy.
The High Stakes of Health Literacy
Imagine what it must be like for those 59 million U.S. adults who are below a 4th grade reading level, to try to navigate the health care system and insurance options. What about those for whom English is not their native language? If I were trying to read about health care benefits in another language, I would be lost. Health literacy involves so much more than understanding our health care plan, as Dr. Rima Rudd, a founder and leader in the field of health literacy studies, explained in one of our previous blog posts.
A number of years ago, I was a big fan of the TV show, ER. One of the episodes really stuck with me. An elderly person came into the ER, having overdosed their prescription medication. When the hospital staff tried to determine what happened, they discovered that the patient spoke Spanish. The prescription bottle said “Take Once Daily.” But for those who speak Spanish, the word “once”, (pronounced ON-say), means eleven! It was then that I understood that health literacy really can mean the difference between life and death.
Why Financial Literacy Matters for Your Health
We need financial literacy to determine what is best for our health care options, too. First Literacy provided a grant a few years ago, for a program called Money Talks and Your Voice Matters. This program provided refugees and immigrants with practical financial education and tools to maximize their financial health in the United States.
Countries differ in how they handle money, banking, and credit, and the systems people encounter in the United States may be unfamiliar to those from other countries. For those who are native born to the U.S. and struggle with low literacy, the whole financial system can be overwhelming as well. Understanding the costs associated with different health care plans and how they affect your personal finances is essential to making an informed health care decision.
Literacy Is a Prescription for Change
According to ProLiteracy, $215 billion in health care costs are linked to low literacy. Those with low health literacy spend $3,362 a year on prescriptions compared to $910 a year for those with above basic literacy skills.
Unlike many diseases, where a cure has not yet been found, we know how to cure low literacy. But more resources are needed to provide every adult with the tools they need to improve their literacy skills and make informed decisions about their health.
First Literacy is working to make this possible. Through scholarships, professional development for adult educators, and grants that help organizations develop innovative programs, we are expanding access to the education adults need to build stronger literacy skills and take control of their health and financial well-being.