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doi:
10.1377/hlthaff.2014.0396
Health Literacy And Connected Health The February 2014 issue of Health Affairs focused on the possibilities of connected health, including the role it could play in transforming health care. Implementation science has documented the impact of multiple factors on the successful dissemination and integration of health care interventions, including technologies. 1 Health literacy is a significant factor in this process.2 But the February 2014 issue did not address the role of health literacy. Health literacy is essential to patients’ understanding of complex concepts such as double blind trials, randomization, and risk-benefit ratios. Health literacy allows patients to participate in their own care and is presupposed by most health care technology systems, such as patient portals and decision-making supports. The increasing complexity of health care decisions requires an understanding of digital communication, which may in turn require health, computer, numeric, computational, and information literacy.3 The American Medical Association’s report on health literacy and patient safety reviewed multiple studies and found
that literacy was a stronger predictor of health status than education, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status was. 4 Communities that lack access to educational resources to support health literacy are often the same communities that lack access to digital technologies. Thus, the implementation of health care technologies without concern for health literacy may result in a widening of the digital divide, hurt the most vulnerable people, and solidify health disparities. Ronald S. Weinstein and Ana Maria Lopez University of Arizona TUCSON , ARIZONA NOTES 1 Kilbourne AM, Neumann MS, Pincus HA, Bauer MS, Stall R. Implenting evidence-based interventions in health care: application of the replicating effective programs framework. Implement Sci. 2007;2:42. 2 Chang BL, Bakken S, Brown SS, Houston TK, Kreps GL, Kukafka R, et al. Bridging the digital divide: reaching vulnerable populations. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2004;11(6):448–57. 3 National Network of Libraries of Medicine. Health literacy [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): NNLM; [cited 2014 Mar 20]. Available from: http://nnlm.gov/ outreach/consumer/hlthlit.html#A1 4 Weiss BD. Health literacy and patient safety: help patients understand: manual for clinicians [Internet]. 2nd ed. Chicago (IL): American Medical Association; 2007 May [cited 2014 Mar 20]. Available from: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/ pub/upload/mm/367/healthlitclinicians.pdf
June 2014
33:6
Health A ffairs
1103
doi:
10.1377/hlthaff.2014.0396
Health Literacy And Connected Health The February 2014 issue of Health Affairs focused on the possibilities of connected health, including the role it could play in transforming health care. Implementation science has documented the impact of multiple factors on the successful dissemination and integration of health care interventions, including technologies. 1 Health literacy is a significant factor in this process.2 But the February 2014 issue did not address the role of health literacy. Health literacy is essential to patients’ understanding of complex concepts such as double blind trials, randomization, and risk-benefit ratios. Health literacy allows patients to participate in their own care and is presupposed by most health care technology systems, such as patient portals and decision-making supports. The increasing complexity of health care decisions requires an understanding of digital communication, which may in turn require health, computer, numeric, computational, and information literacy.3 The American Medical Association’s report on health literacy and patient safety reviewed multiple studies and found
that literacy was a stronger predictor of health status than education, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status was. 4 Communities that lack access to educational resources to support health literacy are often the same communities that lack access to digital technologies. Thus, the implementation of health care technologies without concern for health literacy may result in a widening of the digital divide, hurt the most vulnerable people, and solidify health disparities. Ronald S. Weinstein and Ana Maria Lopez University of Arizona TUCSON , ARIZONA NOTES 1 Kilbourne AM, Neumann MS, Pincus HA, Bauer MS, Stall R. Implenting evidence-based interventions in health care: application of the replicating effective programs framework. Implement Sci. 2007;2:42. 2 Chang BL, Bakken S, Brown SS, Houston TK, Kreps GL, Kukafka R, et al. Bridging the digital divide: reaching vulnerable populations. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2004;11(6):448–57. 3 National Network of Libraries of Medicine. Health literacy [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): NNLM; [cited 2014 Mar 20]. Available from: http://nnlm.gov/ outreach/consumer/hlthlit.html#A1 4 Weiss BD. Health literacy and patient safety: help patients understand: manual for clinicians [Internet]. 2nd ed. Chicago (IL): American Medical Association; 2007 May [cited 2014 Mar 20]. Available from: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/ pub/upload/mm/367/healthlitclinicians.pdf
June 2014
33:6
Health A ffairs
1103
