Health information literacy is a key component of patient empowerment

Patients have a growing need for health information. Although relatively new, health information literacy has become an important concept in patient empowerment and successful self-management. The difference between health and medical literacy is critical.

Health literacy is the degree to which individuals can get, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make better health decisions, while medical literacy refers specifically to understanding the efficacy of specific medications prescribed by their doctors.

Health information literacy can improve health outcomes for patients by improving communication between the patient and their health care provider. This is realized by increasing the patients’ knowledge of how to use the internet and other resources to discover new abilities to aid in their health literacy.

Research has shown that patients who are better informed about their conditions are better health care consumers and have better outcomes of patients who do not have such information. There is a greater likelihood of patient compliance with medical regimen, more proper use of services, and enhanced trust in the doctor-patient relationship for those patients who feel more knowledgeable about the health care system.

Education, advocacy, and collaboration to bring awareness of the critical role health information literacy plays in ensuring that patients have access to and use the knowledge they need to make informed health decisions.

We need to design our new health literacy series to provide comprehensive coverage of the current state of health information and its importance in healthcare today. To explain what health literacy is and why it is important, how individuals gain health information literacy skills, and how these skills enhance patient self-management abilities that are essential to being a good healthcare consumer.

Where do you look for health information? What do you need to know, to understand, and act upon the information you find?

Health information literacy is a key component of patient empowerment.

Opening the door to empowering patients to improve health outcomes via health information literacy.