Hospice News October 11, 2024
Low health literacy among seriously ill patients can impede access to palliative care and complicate efforts to improve health equity.
Health literacy is the degree to which individuals can obtain, process and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions, according to the Institute of Medicine. A health illiterate patient may have a strong overall ability to read or have an advanced education but have a limited understanding of information specific to health care.
Patients who lack an understanding of health care information or terminology do not understand their own illnesses or who misconstrue the nature of hospice or palliative care may lack the necessary tools to make informed decisions.
“The issues are prevalent across health...
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