Essay Sample on Patient Healthcare Literacy

The IOM reports that nearly half of the adult population tend to lack health literacy which is much required to comprehend and make informed decision on health matters with the US having over 95 million people lacking the basic information and only 12% of the adults having the proficiency on health literacy to be able to conduct relatively complicated health tasks. Therefore, many of the countries throughout the globe have made significant effort to improve the patient's healthcare by either amending those policies that favor the patients or even offering the patients with health subsidies and promoting the patient's literacy (Collins,Koplan, & Marks, 2009). For instance, the US has initiated universal national insurance in that seems to support the private, employer-based system, with government projects operating to cover specific vulnerable groups. However, such actions of the government shave invited both criticism and support from various people within the public range. Some of the favorable policies have enhanced diversity and innovation as a result of the private healthcare sectors.

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Most of the patient healthcare policies that have been discussed among the various nations' history have been concerning have been commonly on how to promote the effectiveness and the efficiency of multiple types of the health insurances and mean on how to cover for those specials groups such as the women,children,the elderly and those who are out of employment scope; again on the ways on how to regulate patient healthcare expenditure while at the same time ensuring that the patients are given the much-needed quality healthcare services and keeping updated with the advancement of the technology regarding the healthcare(Paasche-Orlow, & Wolf, 2007).

Over the past few decades, most of the governments have enhanced their private involvement in healthcare. For example, by 2013, the US government's expenditure on the healthcare sector was scaled at 42% with private households at 28% and that of the private businesses at an estimated 21%. Government health insurance showed 32% of all insurance plans, and employer-based plans at over.

Today, the healthcare sector has become a critical part of most of the countries' economy throughout the word; both the developed and underdeveloped. And the healthcare sector given a significant amount based on the total national gross domestic product; and the set healthcare policies and regulations getting more complicated and such policies are enforced by the federal and states governments as well as the private sector. For instance, the most current Affordable Care Act that is referred to as ObamaCare was formulated in the US, and the effectiveness of the policies are constantly kept in check and enforced appropriately.

In this particular paper, the primary purpose is to research on the health literacy which is described as the extent at which an individual has the capacity achieve, process and comprehend necessary information on health issues required to assist the specific patient make an informed decision. However, the literacy on health relies on various factors such as the skills of communication of both the professional and the layperson; their understanding and knowledge on various health topics; the demand of the healthcare and culture (Gazmararian, et al.1999). The health literacy impacts on the patients capabilities in different ways, as it will be discussed in depth with the parts of this particular research paper; some of which include the following: it enhance a patient's ability to fill certain forms on medication without much strain; involve in self-care and chronic diseases management and comprehend basic concept such as the risks of certain health conditions (Sander et al 2009). Nonetheless, health literacy comprises of lots of activities and skills which may include: calculating of blood sugar level and cholesterol contents or understanding the labels of nutrition; calculation of premiums and even following of the provided prescription. However, the health literacy needs to be reviewed continuously to make the patient up to date since the medical sciences tend to be experiencing quite a rapid progress and advances depending on the technology and innovation in place.

Research Questions

The study questions were used to assist in accomplishes the research. The survey questions were assessed by the application of the INE F-F tool. The research questions were:

1. 1. How does health literacy influence the development within the health sectors?
2. 2.What are some of the challenges faced by most governments and private sectors in the implementation of policies on health literacy?
3. 3. What are some of the health policies that enhance the health literacy among the patients?
4. 4. What are some of the benefits of the Health Literacy?
5. 5. How have both the federal and states government promoted the health literacy among the within the public health sectors?

Problem Statement

According to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy, it states that an estimated 12% of adults pose the much-required Proficiency in health literacy to assist them in managing and avoiding specific diseases. And it is also suggested that over 13% of adults tend to have Below Basic Health Literary; therefore; as a result patients were most definite to report on poor health and do not have health insurance as compared to those adults who had basic health literacy. Due to the mentioned challenges that are associated with a lack of proficiency in health literacy, this particular research paper had a unique purpose of trying to highlight issues regarding health literacy. The purpose of this study on the Health policy issue, mainly focusing on the health literacy to help promote and facilitate the health services and delivery from both the federal and state governments and plan health matters effectively by improving the health literacy since it benefits both our community and the government as a whole. A team of medical professionals and patients were surveyed to determine the effect of health literacy on the performance of the health systems and how they enhance the recovery and management of specific chronic diseases. This study was carried out using quantitative and qualitative approaches to determine the effects of the health literary on our health systems and how it has promoted the recovery and management of specific ailments.

METHODOLOGY

Introduction

The aim of this survey was to regard possible influence, and importance of health literacy on the patients and the health care system as a unit and to identifies the potential policies in place to promote the health literacy; and also to give a description of the agencies and the governments' involvement in the health sector and ways in which they have supported the health literacy; with the epistemological perception for the study being essential realism. For this particular survey, the application of questionnaires and direct interviews to gather raw data was a more appropriate strategy. The method and data collection were ideal because it provided a wide range of data based on various health professionals like the nurses and doctors and the patients and government officials that oversee the health sector. From the data, the gathered information was found to be beneficial in the research. The patients' socio-Affective profile and health literacy checklist to assess the skills based on the various health topics, and both the health experts and patients were requested to reply to the questionnaires in bits and provide the participants' response to analyze and make conclusions.

STUDY DESIGN

The survey design is based on the determination and used in this particular survey because no or few published studies linked to this area. Besides, no data on this basis can be used for this specific study and even more in-depth research in the area. The strategy applied in this investigation is the Qualitative strategy that used semi-structured questionnaires. The Qualitative approach is regarded to be relatively more effective because the survey focuses to research on the issue of health literacy; thus, the Qualitative method is critical when a researcher is looking for more detailed suggestions from the respondents.

Focused-Group Debate

The respondents were arranged in small groups of 3 individuals. Within the groups, they were to select a leader to be in charge of the debate. They discussed the various issues concerning the health literacy and summarized their results in a specific note in the notebooks I provided.

Questionnaire

The questionnaires followed a specific order of the questioning and answering procedures. There was a need to probe the answers and apply the replies for even further questioning with the epistemological stance for the study being critical realism. For this research, the use of a semi-structured interview to collect the raw data was a suitable approach, and it provided a wide range of data based on the issue surrounding health literacy.

SAMPLING

Concerning the usefulness study that has used this particular technique of sampling, the information that was attained in this specific survey was considered to be sufficient in this specific research. The survey sample was constituted of 6 patients, 3 health experts, and 2 government officials within the health sector.

SAMLING PROCESS

This survey used the conventional approach of sampling because of the inadequate economic support and timeframe. The appropriate sampling strategy was applied initially in 2000 by Craft and was worth appreciating. Concerning the active investigation which has applied this sampling technique, the data that was extracted in this specific research was assumed relevant for this particular study. Purposive sampling was extensively applied to choose 6 patients each of the 2 public health centers and 1 private health center that was later identified. The researcher, in this case, linked with some of the health facilities had enforced the policies concerning the patients' health literacy policies.

DATA COLLECTION

The raw data is also defined as the primary data that was collected from the participants selected and concerned as relevant to this specific survey. An investigation through the use of questionnaires was applied to address the respondents. A direct and indirect interview for the patients and health experts was conducted to solicit for the feedbacks to assist retrieving information that is so much needed for the study. The questions were to be pre-tested by colleagues who gave recommendations and suggestions which were effective for the survey.

Participants

Throughout the procedure of investigation, 6 patients were engaged in the research. And 4 experts which comprised of the following: an official from the governor's office, health expert and local leaders. The experts' opinions were sought at a different time and each provided with a questionnaire which they had to answer appropriately and submit the feedback to me through the email box. The whole questionnaire was to be filled in a period of 15 minutes. After the completion, I had to gather and assemble the feedback physically. The collected information was later applied in the analysis of the data and conclusions and suggestion's provided.

DISCUSSION

Origin of Health Literacy

Health literacy initially emerged after several health practitioners realized that they needed much interaction with their clients and thus there was an urge to educate them on necessary health information by mid-1990s. The health literacy to some extent made the work of the health practitioners relatively easier since most of the patients who had the basic knowledge reported an increase in their health improvement with minimizes supervision from the caregivers.