Poor functional health literacy: The silent disability for older people

Australasian Journal on Ageing

Volumn 19, Issue 1, 2000, Pages 14-22

  Tooth, Leigh ^a   Clark, Michele ^a   McKenna, Kryss ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND   (Australia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0008828387     PISSN: 14406381     EISSN: 17416612     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1741-6612.2000.tb00133.x     Document Type: Review

References (65)

1. Friedland RB, O'Neill G. Understanding health literacy: new estimates of the cost of inadequate health literacy. Conference Proceedings. Promoting health literacy: a call lo action, Washington DC: October 1998.
2. Weiss BD, Coyne C, Michielutte R et al. Communicating with patients who have limited literacy: report of the National Work Group on Literacy and Health. Journal of family Practice 1998; 46:168-176.
3. Weiss BD, Reed RL, Kligman EW. Literacy skills and communication methods of low-income older persons. Patient Education and Counseling 1995; 25: 109-1 19.
4. Weiss B, Hart G, Pust RE. The relationship between literacy and health. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved 1991; 1 (4):351-363.
5. Harris TL, Hodges RE. The literacy dictionary: the vocabulary of reading and writing. First edition. Newark: International Reading Association, 1995.
6. World Health Organisation. Health promotion glossary. Geneva: World Health Organisation, 1998.
7. Baker DW, Parker RM, Williams MV, Clark WS, Nurss J. The relationship of patient reading ability to self-reported health and use of health services. American Journal of Public Health 1997; 87(6):1027-1030.
8. Kirsch IS; Jungeblut A, Jenkins L, Kolstad A. Adult literacy in America: a first look at the results of the National Adult Literacy Survey. Washington: US Department of Health, Education and Welfare, 1993.
9. Williams MV, Baker DW, Parker RM, Nurss J. Relationship of functional health literacy to patients' knowledge of their chronic disease: a study of patients with hypertension and diabetes. Archives oflnternalMedicine 1998; 158:166-172.
10. Parker RM, Baker DW, Williams MV, Nurss J. The Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults: a new instrument for measuring patients' literacy skills. Journal of General and lnternal Medicine 1995; 10537-541
11. Australian Bureau of Statistics. CRATA 96; Census 1996. Belconnen, ACT Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1997.
12. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Aspects of literacy: assessed skill levels. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1996.
13. Padula C. Older couples' decision making on health issues. Western Journal of Nursing Research 1996; 18(6):675-687
14. Borowski A, Hugo G. Demographic trends and policy implications. In: Borowski A, Encel S, Ozanne E. eds. Ageing and social policy in Australia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997: 19-53.
15. Wickert R. No single measure: a survey of Australian adult literacy: a final report. Canberra: Commonwealth Department of Employment, Education and Training, 1995.
16. United Nations Preparations for the lnternatmal Year of Older Persons: reporf to the Secretary General. (A1.531294). New York: United Nations, 1998.
17. Weiss BD, Hart G, McGee DL, D'Estelle S. Health status of illiterate adults: relation between literacy and health status among persons with low literacy skills. Journal of the American Board of Family Practitioners 1992; 5:257-264.
18. World Development Report. lnvesting in health. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.
19. Hertzmann C, Frank J, Evans RG, Heterogeneities in health status and the determinants of population health. In Evans RG, Barer ML, Marmor TR. Eds. Why are some people healthy and others not? New York: Aldine De Gruyter, 1994: 67-92.
20. Cavelaars AE, Kunst A, Geurtz J. Differences in self reported morbidity by educational level: a comparison of 11 Western European countries. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 1998; 52:219-227.
21. Sundquist J, Johansson S. Self reported poor health and low educational level predictors for mortality: a population based follow up study of 39,156 people in Sweden. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 1997; 51:35-40.
22. Evans RG. Introduction. In Evans RG, Barer ML, Marmor TR. Eds. Why are some people healthy and others not? New York: Aldine De Gruyter, 1994: 3-26.
23. Smith JP, Kington R. Demographic and economic correlates of health in old age. Demography 1997; 34::59-170.
24. Winkleby MA, Jatulis LIE, Frank E, Fortmann SP. Socioeconomic status and health: how eoucation, income and occupation contribute to risk factors for cardiovascular disease. American Journal of Public Health 1992; 82:816-820.
25. Mathers C. Health differentials among older Australians. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare: Health Monitoring Series No. 2. Canberra: AGPS, 1994.
26. Parikh NS, Parker RM, Nurss JR, Baker DW, Williams MV. Shame and health literacy: the unspoken connection. Patient Education and Counseling 1996; 27:33-39.
27. Elliot BJ, Polkinhorn JS. Provision of cunsumer health information in general practice. British Medical Journal 1994; 308:509-510.
28. Spandorfer JM, Karras DJ, Hughes LA, Caputo C. Comprehension of discharge instructions by patients in an urban emergency department. Annals of lnternal Medicine 1995; 25(1):71-74.
29. Davis TC. Mayeaux EJ, Fredrickson D, Bocchini JA, Jackson RH, Murphy PW. Reading ability of parents compared with reading level of pediatric patient education materials. Pediatrics 1994; 93(3):460-468.
30. Davis TC, Crouch MA, Wills G, Miller S, Abdehou DM. The gap between patient reading comprehension and the readability of patient education materials. Journal of Family Practice 1990; 31 (5):533-538.
31. Petterson T. How readable are the hospital information leaflets available to elderly people? Age and Ageing 1994; 23(1):14-17.
32. Sarna L, Ganley BJ. A survey of lung cancer patient education materials. Oncology Nursing Forum 1995; 22(10):1545-1550
33. Hopper KO, TenHave TR, Hartzel J. Informed consent forms for clinical and research imaging procedures: how much do patients understand? American Journal of Roentgenology 1995, 164:493-496
34. Ogloff JR. Otto RK. Are research participants truly informed? Readability of informed consent forms used in research. Ethics and Behaviour 1991; 1 (4):239-252.
35. Grossman ST, Piantadosi S, Covahey C. Are informed consent forms that describe clinical oncology research' protocols readable by most patients and their families? Journal of Clinical Oncology 1994; 12(10):2211-2215.
36. Sarma M, Alpers JH, Prideaux DJ, Kroemer DJ. The comprehensibility of Australian educational literature for patients with asthma. Medical Journal of Australia 1995; 162:360-363.
37. Bauman A, Smith N, Braithwaite C, Free A, Saunders A. Asthma information: can it be understood. Health Education Research 1989; 4:377-382.
38. Holt GA, Hollon JD, Hughes SE, Coyle R. OTC labels: can consumers read and understand them? American Pharmacy. 1990; 30(11):51-54.
39. Holt GA, Dorcheus L, Hall EL, Beck D, Ellis E, Hough J. Patient interpretation of label instructions. American Pharmacy 1992; 32(3):58-62.
40. Kelly LJ. The readability of hearing aid brochures. Journal of the Academy of Rehabilitative Audiology 1996; 24:41-47.
41. Estey A, Jeremy P, Jones M. Developing printed materials for patients with visual deficiencies. Journal of Ophthalmic Nursing and Technology 1990; 9(6):247-249.
42. Gollop CJ. Health information-seeking behaviour and older African American women. Bulletin of the Medical Library Association 1997; 85(2):141-146.
43. United Nations. Report on the world social situation 1997 New York: United Nations, 1997.
44. Nutbeam D, Wise M, Nauman A, Harris E, Leeder S. Goals and targets for Australia's health in the year 2000 and beyond. Canberra: AGPS, 1993.
45. Nutbeam D. Creating health-promoting environments: overcoming barriers to action. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 1997; 21:355-359.
46. Nutbeam D. Comprehensive strategies for health promotion for older people: past lessons and future opportunities. Australasian Journal of Ageing 1998; 17(3):120-131.
47. McCabe B, Tysinger JW, Kreger M, Cockran-Currwin A. A strategy for designing effective patient education materials. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 1989; 89:1290-1295.
48. Paul CL, Redman S, Sanson-Fisher RW. The development of a checklist of content and design characteristics for printed health education materials. Health Promotion Journal of Australia 1997; 7(3):153-159.
49. Ott BE, Hardie T. Readabilty of written materials: implications for critical care nurses. Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing 1995; 14(6):328-334.
50. North G, Margree G, Roe M. Guidelines for producing patient information literature. Nursing Standard 1996; 10 (47):46-48.
51. Davis TC, Long SW, Jackson RH, Mayeaux EJ, George RE, Murphy PW, Crouch MA. Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine: a shortened screening instrument. Family Medicine 1993; 25:391-395.
52. Hanson-Divers EC. Developing a medical achievement reading test to evaluate patient literacy skills: a preliminary study. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved 1997; 8(1):56-69
53. Davis TC, Meldrurn H, Tippy PK, Weiss BD. Williams MV. How poor literacy leads to poor health care. Patient Cafe 1996; 30(16):94-127.
54. Greene MG, Adelrnan RD, Friedman E, Charon R. Older patient satisfaction with communication during an initial medical encounter. Social Science and Medicine 1994; 38(9):1279-1288.
55. Weinrich SP, Weinrich MC, Boyd MD, Atwood J, Cervenka B. Teaching older adults by adapting for aging changes. Cancer Nursing 1994; 17(6) 494-500.
56. Yasenchak PA, Bridle M. A low-literacy skin care manual for spinal cord injury patients. Patient Education and Counseling 1993; 22:l-5.
57. List MA, Lacey L, Hopkins E, Burton D. The involvement of low literate elderly women in the development and distribution of cancer screening materials. Family and Community Health 1994; 17(1):42-55.
58. Lorig K, Doak C, Doak L, Goeppinger J, Gonzalez V. Patient education: a practical approach. Second edition. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications, 1996.
59. Meade CD, McKinney P, Barnas GP. Educating patients with limited literacy skills: the effectiveness of printed and videotaped materials about colon cancer. American Journal Of Public Healrh 1994; 84:119-121.
60. Piette JD, Connie AM, The feasibility of automated voice messaging as an adjunct to diabetes outpatient care. Diabetes Care 1997; 20(1):15-21
61. Hawkins R, Price K. The effects of an educational video on patients' requests for post-operative pain relief. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing 1993; 10:32-40.
62. Cooky ME, Moriarty H, Berger MS, Selm-Orr D, Coyle B, Scott T. Patient literacy and the readability of written cancer educational materials. Oncology Nursing Forum 1995; 22(9):1345-1351.
63. Davis TC, Arnold C, Berkel H, Nandy I, Jackson R, Glass J. Knowledge and attitude on screening mammography among low-literate, low-income women. Cancer 1996; 78:1912-1920.
64. Jackson R, Davis TC, Bairnsfather LE, George RE, Crouch MA, Gault H. Patient reading ability: an overlooked problem in health care. Southern Medical Journal 1991. 84(10):1172-1175.
65. Foltz A, Sullivan J. Reading level, learning presentation preference and desire for information among cancer patients. Journal of Cancer Education 1996; 11:32-38.