Health Literacy Training Is Important For People Of All Ages via MHLP

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Health Literacy Training Is Important For People Of All Ages

Health Literacy MN Blog: 2.06.2019

Learning how to maintain good health and understand the health care system can – and should – start early in life and continue throughout. Adolescents are already becoming increasingly involved in their own health care, using health information learned in school and through the media to inform their own actions and behaviors. As more young people engage in their own health care, educators and health professionals have the opportunity to help teach them the basic skills needed to adopt and practice healthy behaviors, as well as how they can best navigate the health care system.

Health literacy (or the degree to which a person is able to process and understand basic health information) is a crucial element of being informed about your own health and the health care system at large. That’s why the Minnesota Health Literacy Partnership recommends health literacy be taught to people of all ages, as a key priority of the Minnesota Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy.

Here are some ways that educators and health professionals can share health literacy with people of all ages:

Provide health literacy education in K-12 schools.

Being “health literate” means you understand the basic vocabulary and processes of the health care system.

Develop health literacy content for adult learners.

Health care and insurance can be overwhelming for all ages.

Train health professionals in health literacy.

Health professionals, insurance representatives, and others in the health industry speak a language that can be difficult for many people to understand.  READ MORE >>