Course Information

Health Literacy “You talk to your patients, but do they understand?” The importance of health literacy in your practice

Health Literacy “You talk to your patients, but do they understand?” The importance of health literacy in your practice

Literacy in the 21st century is about more than reading and writing print.  It involves the ability to find, access, and integrate, information from multiple media, and to be able to understand and apply it.  The challenge is daunting, but nowhere more so than in relation to health information.  Research in the past decade has shown that between 60% and 88% of Canadians have some difficulty understanding health information as they currently receive it.  This finding has led to a growing interest in “health literacy”.

This course will introduce you to the concept of health literacy. It will give an overview of current knowledge about the links between literacy, health literacy, and health outcomes. The goal is to help you understand how health literacy affects your own practice or work setting.  It will introduce some practical tools and strategies to identify and address the health literacy needs of your patients/clients, and the barriers that you may inadvertently create to patient/client understanding.

After completing this module, you will be able to:

  1. Explain the key elements of health literacy, its distribution in Canada, and evidence of its impacts on across all societal groups and populations including high risk particular populations such as aboriginal and immigrants.
  2. Evaluate the health literacy needs of patients/clients and identify gaps in understanding of their health needs.   
  3. Identify the barriers that may exist in your practice such as language, culture, reading information materials and physical access to service.
  4. Identify the challenges and opportunities presented by web based information and media related to health literacy.
  5. Describe practical strategies which will improve health literacy within your individual practice/work environments and facilitate patient/client healthy decision-making.

Funds in support of this CPD activity were provided as an educational grant by the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), Health Canada, Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), and the Canadian Nursing Association (CNA) to Memorial University and independently allocated and disbursed in accordance with current CMA guidelines.

Course Registration

Health Literacy “You talk to your patients, but do they understand?” The importance of health literacy in your practice

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Credits

    (up to) 2 credit hours

Expiry Date

This course expires on
Monday, April 7, 2014

    Mainpro-M1
    This program meets the accreditation criteria of the College of Family Physicians of Canada and has been accredited by Memorial University of Newfoundland for up to 2 Mainpro-M1 credits.

    Maintenance of Certification (Section 1)
    This event is an Accredited Group Learning Activity (Section 1) as defined by the Maintenance of Certification program of The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and approved by Memorial University of Newfoundland. Up to 2 Section 1 credit hours can be claimed.


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