How to build your health literacy skills

Healthy People 2030 defines health literacy as: “the degree to which individuals have the ability to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others.”

Having health literacy isn’t just being able to read and write well. It involves understanding medical information and using that information to keep you and your family healthy. Part of health literacy is understanding what happens during a doctor’s visit. But it also includes the health choices you make at home and knowing how to find health information and resources after you leave the doctor’s office.

Anyone, including doctors, can have a hard time remembering health information or making medical decisions when they’re stressed, rushed, in pain, or distracted. The same is true for parents of active, chatty, or fussy children. Hearing a new diagnosis, starting medication, or getting test results can be especially overwhelming and confusing. Nobody is born with strong health literacy skills. Fortunately, health literacy is something that you learn and build on over time.

Prep for your visit.

• Have a list of questions or concerns written down or saved on your phone.
• Consider bringing a support person to your appointment. An extra person can hear and remember info you miss and ask questions you may not think to ask. If you’re a parent, an extra person means another set of hands for your child so you can focus.
• Bring a list of medications you take and any specialists you see.

Ask questions.

• Providers want to make sure you understand the most important parts of a visit. But they also talk quickly and use a lot of medical terms. If there’s something you don’t understand, it’s okay to ask, “What does that mean?” or “Can you explain that again?”
• Ask the provider to define medical words you don’t know. When you research online or see a specialist, it helps to know common medical terms about your condition.
• When you leave the visit, make sure you know “What are my next steps?” or “What happens next?”

Track your numbers.

• Lists of numbers are hard to remember. But doctors talk about numbers a lot, whether that’s blood pressure, bloodwork, or how often your child has symptoms. Luckily, smart phones make it easier to keep track on apps or lists. Knowing some of these important numbers helps you take charge of your own health.
• Remember to ask your doctor what the number means, what the goal should be, and how to improve the numbers for next time.

Repeat what you’ve heard and understand.

• Repeating what you’ve heard out loud helps in 2 ways: It confirms you heard correctly and it helps lock the information in your memory.
• Sometimes doctors make mistakes explaining something. When you repeat back, it also gives them the chance to correct if they misspoke.
• During your visit, repeat back the most important points. You might say, “To make sure I understand, this is the diagnosis and what I need to do next…” or “Just to clarify, this is how to take the medicine…” This gives the doctor the chance to fix any misunderstandings.

Check out other reliable sources.

• Some people learn better with pictures or videos. Many patients want more information than they can get from a doctor’s visit. There are lots of ways to learn more about health issues online. This is a great opportunity but can also be overwhelming.
• Sites or accounts run by hospitals, government health sites, or national healthcare organizations usually have reliable science-based information.
• If you find advice or new info on a post or site, double check that it can also be found in multiple places.
• Beware of posts or people that try to sell a product or claim to have “secret” or “miracle” cures.
• Turn to other health professionals. Patient navigators, health educators, nutritionists, and nurses are just some of the people who can help you learn more about health outside of a regular doctor’s visit.
• If you have questions about something you see online or want to get more health education, ask your doctor about it. They should support that you want to learn about your own health.

Where to learn more:

About Health Literacy (Memorial Sloan Kettering)

Ask Me 3: Good questions for your good health

Evaluating Credibility in Social Media Posts (Public Health Communications Collaborative)

Heath Literacy (National Institutes of Health)

HealthyChildren.org- The AAP Parenting Website (American Academy of Pediatrics)