Health Literacy: The importance of Patient Education and Awareness

 

Navigating the healthcare system today can be rather complex, especially when you’re looking to make an informed decision that benefits both your physical and financial health. Health literacy can make this daunting journey transform into an enlightened experience.

Health literacy is the cornerstone of making the right health decisions; it instills the right kind of education and awareness among patients that helps them find and use relevant information and services to understand the language, risks, and benefits of the available treatment options. Not only does this help improve the patient’s health outcomes, but it also helps create an effective and equitable healthcare system that benefits everyone in the long run.

This blog will dive into the critical role of health literacy and awareness regarding possible treatment options that are effective and align with low-cost medication programs that benefit a larger population.

Why Health Literacy Can’t be Ignored

Health literacy isn’t just limited to knowing your disease; it expands to accepting your health condition, understanding its management requirements, and knowing the available treatment options that help you navigate the healthcare system and make informed health decisions.

A correlation can be seen between poor health literacy and poorer health status and disease outcomes, poor medical adherence, frequent hospital visits, and high morbidity rates. 88% of US adults have substandard rates of health literacy, 14% of adults have below basic health literacy, 22% hold basic health literacy, and 55% have intermediate health literacy.

These statistics stress the importance of the need for health literacy. Many patients in the US struggle with low health literacy, which adds to poor health outcomes, uninformed decisions, and increased healthcare and prescription costs.

Poor levels of health literacy not only impact one’s own health but also become a public health concern as per the indirect effect of health unawareness on the entire healthcare system.

Finances may come in the way and become an excuse for a lack of medical information and non-adherence to treatment plans. People remain unaware of efficient, low-cost and free medication programs tailored to their needs, resulting in a vicious cycle of non-adherence, emergency hospital visits, and a burden on the healthcare system.

Benefits of Health Literacy

Health literacy is not just about reading and understanding medical jargon; it plays a vital role in transforming the patient experience and healthcare outcomes. Let's explore how improved health literacy empowers individuals and communities and helps them find the patient assistance they didn’t know they needed.

Improved Health Outcomes

Educating patients with the most relevant, current, and consistent information about their health situation significantly helps them and their families in medical care and decision-making processes. Patients need formal education about the disease they’re managing. They need to be aware of the symptoms and be educated about the available treatment and medication plans.

Health literacy leads to improved health outcomes. Health protection and prevention come hand in hand with health literacy; when patients display an understanding of the health situation, they are rather susceptible to employing healthy interventions.

This helps promote patient education and awareness, which leads to complete self-health management, responsibility, and efficient healthcare utilization from the patient’s side which adds up to improved health outcomes.

Adherence to Medical Treatments

 

Another cornerstone effect of improved health literacy is an increased adherence to medical treatment. When patients are informed and completely understand why medical treatment is required and what it does, they are more adherent to it.

Such patients thrive on the feeling of autonomy they earn by being able to share in the decisions that directly affect their health. They feel more in power, thus they adhere to and respond better to their medical treatments.

Mining out Low-cost Treatment and Medication Programs

An often-overlooked benefit of health literacy is its ability to help patients navigate through the healthcare system and mine out low-cost treatment and medication programs. Many times, patients start taking their health for granted or ignore medical prescriptions due to a lack of financial resources available to them.

For such cases, prescription assistance programs are vital to bridge the gap between medication costs and patient access. Often facilitated by patient assistance companies, these programs provide free or low-cost medication options for eligible individuals. With these prescription assistance and low-cost medication programs, it becomes possible to make treatments accessible to a broader audience, including those who are financially vulnerable.

Sufficient health literacy helps to mine out such health initiatives and get in contact with them. This helps patients manage costs while supporting their health and well-being. Through a snowball effect, community growth is ensured. People talk about such programs more often, promoting health literacy and better health outcomes for the community.

Bridging the Gap with The Rx Helper

Health literacy is the tool that empowers patients to navigate through the complex healthcare system without feeling powerless or alone. By enhancing one’s understanding of his health situation and the possible treatment options, patients can make much more informed decisions.

The Rx Helper is one such prescription assistance program that helps you hop on to low-cost medication programs for young people and even for seniors. If you or someone you know is struggling to pay for prescription medication, this Rx Assistance program is what you need!

As you embrace health literacy and create better-informed medical pathways for yourself, reach out to The Rx Helper and hop on your health journey by adhering to your medical regimens without the burden of excessive costs.

Contact them today to discover more about their comprehensive Rx assistance programs!