Low Health Literacy Affects Many Seniors in Central Florida
Helping seniors better understand their health care information could save their life
Ensure your loved ones take the right medication at meal time.
With changes in health care on the minds of most American seniors today, it has never been more important to make sure seniors understand their health care information. Nearly half of all American adults have difficulty understanding and using health information provided to them by doctors, specialists, pharmacists and insurance companies. Low health literacy can often lead to harmful and even deadly mistakes.
The term “health literacy” refers to a patient’s ability to obtain, process, and understand health care communications ranging from test results to prescription instructions. The complex language that is commonly used in health information can often be very difficult to understand.
Seniors who have a working understanding of health information have the ability to understand the writing on prescription bottles and appointment slips, and understand information provided to them by their medical team.
In contrast, patients with low functional health literacy often:
- Do not understand the written or oral information provided to them by a doctor, nurse, pharmacist or insurer
- Cannot navigate the health system in order to obtain necessary services
- Acquire higher health care costs
Understanding a doctor’s orders is essential to ensuring the best treatment decisions are made. And, knowing your rights as an insured Adult is critical to making sure you are getting the most out of your insurance coverage.
According to the National Academy on an Aging Society low health literacy impacts both the cost of health care as well as the physical costs for seniors in our community. Billions of dollars are spent every year for unnecessary doctor visits and hospital stays because of low health literacy among seniors.
“Our caregivers have also found that many of our clients are endangering themselves by mistakenly taking medications and not understanding their treatment options,” said Lynn Domenech of Comfort Keepers, a provider of in-home care services for seniors in Central Florida.
“We train our caregivers to be health literate and to promote stronger health literacy among all of our clients. We help put our clients’ worries at ease by helping them understand their prescriptions and instructions from doctors.”
According to a 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy conducted by the Institute of Education Sciences, adults age 65 and older had lower average health literacy scores than adults in younger age groups. As a result, adults age 65 and older are considered a very vulnerable population.
“We see many clients that are faced with the difficult task of making multiple treatment decisions,” added Domenech. “They receive treatment options from different physicians often including their family practitioner and several specialists. Evaluating that information for credibility, comparing advice, interpreting test results and analyzing all of the possible risks leave many opportunities for errors.”
There are many ways for families to help. If you know of a senior or have a loved one dealing with medical issues, offer to attend doctors’ appointments with them. Help them review and prepare their insurance information. Be sure that they understand their treatment plan and encourage them to take notes at their appointments and to log questions for the next appointment.
You can also help them understand their prescriptions and create an easy system that ensures they take medication at the right times. These few steps will go a long way in helping the seniors you know stay safe and avoid the risks of confusion.
About Comfort Keepers®
Comfort Keepers Ocala provides non-medical, in-home companion care on an hourly, daily, weekly or live-in basis for individuals needing assistance with activities of daily living. Services are tailored to the individual needs of each client and, in the case of seniors, allow them to continue living safely and in the privacy of their own home. Care duties include companionship, meal preparation, light housekeeping, grocery shopping, transportation for errands and appointments, laundry, recreational activities and more.
Comfort Keepers Ocala, Gainesville, and The Villages are independently owned by mother and daughter team Lynn Domenech and Jocelyn Holt. Comfort Keepers has over 550 independently owned and operated offices worldwide in 45 U.S. states, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Singapore and Portugal. Long-range projections call for 700 locations worldwide by the end of 2010. Comfort Keepers is already in 525 U.S. markets and is targeting 160 new markets by 2010 including Miami/Dade County, Florida, San Francisco, Houston, Oklahoma City, Maine and Portland, Oregon. For more information, visit www.comfortkeepers.com or contact Lynn Domenech at 352.331.7760.
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Please Contact:
Lynn Domenech
Comfort Keepers
Phone: 352.331.7760
Email: lynndomenech@comfortkeepers.com
