Dr. Genelle Lamont

And 36% of those in that study really struggle with health information. Part of that could be because of overall reading levels, but there are certainly other factors involved in that as well. And it's not necessarily a situation around your level of education. Certainly those with higher levels of education would be presumed to have higher levels of health literacy.

And 36% of those in that study really struggle with health information. Part of that could be because of overall reading levels, but there are certainly other factors involved in that as well. And it's not necessarily a situation around your level of education. Certainly those with higher levels of education would be presumed to have higher levels of health literacy.

But again, we can't always assume that. Again, going back to the fact that medical jargon and language that we learn stems from those that are within, say, public health fields or medical fields, the fields in which you are learning those terminologies. But everyone else obviously didn't go to those schools. So how would you then expect them to understand the language that you use, right?

But again, we can't always assume that. Again, going back to the fact that medical jargon and language that we learn stems from those that are within, say, public health fields or medical fields, the fields in which you are learning those terminologies. But everyone else obviously didn't go to those schools. So how would you then expect them to understand the language that you use, right?

I think everybody, once we're born and when we go through K through 12 education, we automatically speak plainly. It's only when we go to graduate school and professional school that we kind of forget all that we learned. And we start to be more technical because that's the expectation of these schools, right? Is that you can speak in that way and you can speak with your colleagues.

I think everybody, once we're born and when we go through K through 12 education, we automatically speak plainly. It's only when we go to graduate school and professional school that we kind of forget all that we learned. And we start to be more technical because that's the expectation of these schools, right? Is that you can speak in that way and you can speak with your colleagues.

But equally important would be if we also went back to our roots and learned how to speak in plain language and adopting health literacy best practices so that we can apply that when we're speaking with the public, when we're speaking with our patients or clients.

But equally important would be if we also went back to our roots and learned how to speak in plain language and adopting health literacy best practices so that we can apply that when we're speaking with the public, when we're speaking with our patients or clients.

Correct. Correct. And actually back in 2010, you might recall that was the passage of the Affordable Care Act and the Plain Writing Act in which government agencies were required to provide documents in plain language and speak in plain language. So there was a movement around 2010 and that's when we had the national plan to address health literacy that was enacted through the U.S.

Correct. Correct. And actually back in 2010, you might recall that was the passage of the Affordable Care Act and the Plain Writing Act in which government agencies were required to provide documents in plain language and speak in plain language. So there was a movement around 2010 and that's when we had the national plan to address health literacy that was enacted through the U.S.

Department of Health and Human Services. So during that time, there's a lot more awareness around the need for health literacy and to implement that into the different professions. But since then, there hasn't been any real major movement towards advancing health literacy in a major way.

Department of Health and Human Services. So during that time, there's a lot more awareness around the need for health literacy and to implement that into the different professions. But since then, there hasn't been any real major movement towards advancing health literacy in a major way.

And I really believe that in that context, we need to be addressing health literacy from a systems-wide approach, tackling education sector, health and human services sectors, etc.,

And I really believe that in that context, we need to be addressing health literacy from a systems-wide approach, tackling education sector, health and human services sectors, etc.,

That's a really good question. So there's a handful of tools out there that we could actually use to test someone's health literacy. The problem with those tools is that I guess to use an epidemiology term, cross-sectional, right? You understand what that means? So it's one point in time that we're capturing data.

That's a really good question. So there's a handful of tools out there that we could actually use to test someone's health literacy. The problem with those tools is that I guess to use an epidemiology term, cross-sectional, right? You understand what that means? So it's one point in time that we're capturing data.

So if you were to take maybe an average over a year, you'd get a better sense of somebody's health literacy. But if you're just capturing it at that one point in time, it's really contextual. It's going to depend on your stress levels for that day, right?

So if you were to take maybe an average over a year, you'd get a better sense of somebody's health literacy. But if you're just capturing it at that one point in time, it's really contextual. It's going to depend on your stress levels for that day, right?

in the context of a healthcare visit, it might depend on, have you just received a major diagnosis that say you've have cancer or some kind of inoperable, you know, and so then your, your cognition and your processing goes down when those kinds of incidences happen. So really the best practice in health literacy is to, instead of focusing on the individual and bringing their health literacy up,

in the context of a healthcare visit, it might depend on, have you just received a major diagnosis that say you've have cancer or some kind of inoperable, you know, and so then your, your cognition and your processing goes down when those kinds of incidences happen. So really the best practice in health literacy is to, instead of focusing on the individual and bringing their health literacy up,