What Is Low Health Literacy

Health literacy is the ability of a patient to understand basic health information and services in order to make appropriate health decisions. Educational material can be presented to a patient with low health literacy by providing written or oral materials, using less scientific language when explaining basic ideas, and offering a translator for patients who do not speak English as their first language. Often, many elderly patients cannot hear well, so they may mistaken once a day for eleven times a day. Moreover, the physician should ensure that the patient understands his/her prescription by asking questions about how often he/she should be taking the
medication.