the basics - World Health Communication Associates

Coughs and colds only get better with medicineIt is the father’s gene that decides whether the baby is a boy or a girlAntibiotics kill viruses as well as bacteriaCigarette smoking causes lung cancerAll bacteria are harmful to humans(F)(T)(F)(F)(F)Pleasant and Kuruvilla suggest (2008) that this scale can meet the needs ofresearchers concerned with the relationships between knowledge and health andinform advocacy efforts to improve the flow of health information to promotehealthy behaviors, prevent and treat individual diseases, conditions or health issues.Moreover, the scale could be used as a core measure for national survey effortsinvestigating the relationship between knowledge and health similar to the U.S.National Science Board’s and Eurobarometer efforts to assess changes and effects ofscience literacy in society.3.5 A MEASURE OF HEALTH DEVELOPMENTRatzan (2001) and others have proposed that population health literacy shouldbe considered a measure of health development. A population health literacyindex which measures a person’s skills and the health literacy friendliness of keysystems and settings could provide a useful and unique picture of populationhealth competence. Such an index could provide a new type of health index forsocieties that complements measures such as the disability adjusted life years(DALYs) and morbidity and mortality data (Ratzan 2001; Kickbusch 2002). The IOMRoundtable 2009 heard several presentations of approaches to population healthliteracy measurement, including geo-mapping using census data and literacymeasures (Lurie in Hernandez 2009, p.66) and another imputing health literacybased on patient sociodemographic indicators such as age, education, etc. (Hanchatein Hernandez 2009, p.61). This is an area for future research.SECTION 3: HOW IS HEALTH LITERACY MEASURED? 31