Health literacy: more choice, but do cancer patients have the skills to decide?

Abstract

As health care moves towards greater choice, with shared responsibility and decision making between doctors and patients, a variety of resources and skills are needed by individuals if they are to be active participants in their health. Health literacy is the ability to make the most out of health. For an individual, it is the capacity to obtain, interpret and understand basic health information and services in ways that enhance health. In developed countries, however, over half of the population have reading and comprehension difficulties, creating a gap between the educational expectations of health-care services and an individual's ability to understand. This review highlights the difficulty many cancer patients face as a consequence of their poor literacy and comprehension skills. It draws attention to a problem whose magnitude is not always easy to recognize and suggests simple ways health professionals can more effectively communicate with their patients.

Evaluation of a hospital-based cancer information and support centre

“…Participants in this study requested services expand to include access to whole body therapies such as complementary therapies (n=39/56%). These findings support UK studies [24,41] reporting on CISCs providing 'a holistic approach'. Future considerations would be how best to address the requests of centre users.…”

“…Results of a study to determine the experience and needs of people affected by cancer indicate 68% of participants (n=178/262) reported as overwhelming the written information provided to them in a consultation [24]. Evidence from a descriptive study to understand the needs of people using a cancer information service indicates persons affected by cancer may not fully comprehend medical terms used in a medical consultation and require further explanation to maximise their understanding [23].…”

“…The provision of information and educational support to cancer patients and their families throughout the cancer experience is considered an essential aspect of quality patient care [13,24,28]. The positive benefits of information are well documented [36] and include improved understanding of diagnosis and prognosis, better coping, reduced anxiety and improved symptom management and self-care [11,26,32,42].…”

Development and preliminary evaluation of a bowel cancer screening decision aid for adults with lower literacy

“…If patients are confused by the concept of informed choice, it may limit their awareness of the options available to them, and restrict their ability to express their preferences and concerns. Health care providers who strive to involve patients, to the level they desire, need to be aware that education and literacy skills may affect how a patient responds to information and makes decisions about their health [10,40].…”

Development of multimedia informational tools for breast cancer patients with low levels of health literacy

“…The current state of information delivery and formatting can create barriers for cancer patients with low-health literacy to access and navigate the healthcare system, understand cancerrelated information, and make decisions about cancer treatment [8,9]. Cox et al [10] examined 14 different breast cancer education materials published by national organizations in the U.K. and determined they were above a 9th grade reading level, with over one-third written at a college level.…”