September 11 Events Dramatically Point
to
Health Literacy Needs of Consumers
Anthrax
and antibiotics including Cipro and doxycycline became common
household words after September 11. The unending focus on anthrax
by magazines, newspapers, TV shows, and the Internet sometimes
generated undue fear -- prompting consumers to make important
health decisions based on incomplete information or information
they did not understand. Some consumers stockpiled or self-treated
with Cipro even though they lacked knowledge about when the
antibiotic should be used, how to take it correctly, and the
potential risks.
In order for health information
provided by the media--as well as by pharmaceutical companies
and health professionals — to be useful, it must be presented
in a way so that consumers are able to read it, understand it,
and be convinced by it to take appropriate action. This was
the focus of remarks by Dr. Dorothy Smith, President of Consumer
Health Information Corporation, who was a keynote speaker at
the Norfleet Executive Forum on Health at the University of
Tennessee in Memphis on November 13, 2001.
Addressing the health literacy
needs of consumers, Dr. Smith told the audience of health professionals
and business leaders that health literacy is a complex and challenging
problem. She gave examples of recent articles in the national
media on anthrax and showed why many consumers would misinterpret
the information because it was not written at a readability
level they could understand or the design conveyed messages
that were actually opposite to what was intended.
"Have you ever tried
to read the fine print in an insurance document or a legal contract
and had problems understanding it?" she asked. "This
is exactly what health information is like to many consumers.
Health professionals are expecting them to manage their medical
treatments and prescription medications, but many consumers
are being forced to make critical decisions without 'understanding'
the information."
Health literacy is a series
of sequential stages and the consumer must be able to successfully
pass through each one in order to reach the next. For any health
information to be successfully carried out by the consumer,
the consumer must be able to:
Only when all the components
of content and design are successfully integrated will the health
information message meet the needs of consumers, Dr. Smith said.
Consumers will do everything
they can to protect their health because they are the ones who
have to live with any consequences of a therapy the rest of
their lives, she said. They need good information so that they
can decide if, when, and how to take a medication or manage
a treatment for their disease.
Currently, too many consumers
suffer because they do not receive the right kind of health
information. Patients make serious medication errors because
they are not receiving health information they can understand.
Patient mismanagement of prescription drug is one of this country's
largest and most expensive disease categories, Dr. Smith said.
In fact, it costs the country more to treat the consequences
of these unnecessary problems than it does to purchase all the
prescription drugs for the entire country. "It doesn't make
sense to produce materials that consumers cannot understand,"
she said.
One positive step recommended
by Dr. Smith is for health professionals to be reimbursed for
the time it would take them to counsel patients and answer individual
questions. Only then can medication errors be cut in half and
prescription drug therapy become safer and more effective, she
said.
The Norfleet Executive Forum
on Health is a semi-annual forum on selected issues related
to health care and business. Forum participants include eminent
health care professionals, economists, administrators, attorneys,
business professionals, government officials, and international
experts.