Are you health literate? In an era when misinformation spreads so easily, a lot of us can fall victim to something we hear that sounds right but really isn’t. Or we read something we don’t fully understand, but we pretend we do because we don’t want to feel foolish.
Well, October is Health Literacy Month, and it’s a great opportunity to remember that critically consuming health information is important because it can make a profound impact on our quality of life. Poor health literacy can lead people to mismanage chronic conditions, abuse medicine, or not use the proper health services they should be using.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines health literacy as our ability to find and use information to make smart health decisions. If you see a post on social media about a health trend, or you start Googling symptoms you are experiencing, are you able to decipher what’s good information and what’s not?
If you can’t, or you just aren’t sure, here are seven small steps you can take to improve your health literacy:
1. Don’t be afraid to ask questions from somebody who is qualified to answer them, such as a doctor or pharmacist. Even if a friend sounds like they know what they’re talking about, consider carefully whether they’re qualified to be talking as an expert on the subject.
2. If you’re reading about a health topic online, check the facts with reliable sources. Reputable websites, health care systems, medical journals, and government health agencies should always be your first source of health info.
3. Stay familiar with medical terms, especially if they apply to a condition you have. For example, if you’re at risk of high cholesterol and heart disease, you’ll have trouble understanding a lot of guidance if you don’t know what high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and low-density lipoproteins (LDL) are. Look them up or ask your doctor.
4. Make sure you understand the benefits and risks of any health decisions you make or treatments you pursue. You should be able to translate these pros and cons into plain language and explain them to another person. If not, ask a doctor or nurse to clarify for you.
5. Get support from others around you. See whether your doctor’s office, hospital, or community center has groups for people who share your experience. For example, if you’re struggling with substance use, a support network can share what they’ve learned and offer guidance.
6. When it comes to the basics, remember there’s a lot of misinformation out there. Nutrition, fitness, disease prevention, and mental health are all subjects that have bred many armchair experts—people who think they can speak authoritatively because they have a blog or a podcast. Go to resources like the Mayo Clinic, the Cleveland Clinic, or the National Institutes of Health for advice when you need it.
7. Don’t ever stop learning. Health information is always evolving, so the more you stick with reading and asking questions, the easier it will be to understand.
