Health Literacy is a person's ability to understand, seek and use health information to take care of themselves and make health related decisions. Health literacy is improved when people have access to providers and community workers who listen and explain without judgement. Health literacy is also built with access to recent, credible and easy to understand health information. The information below can help individuals improve their health literacy.
When searching for health information online, it is important to look at where the information is coming from. Some questions to ask include:
-When was this information published?
-Where is this information published? (Social Media, Blogs, Webpages)
-Can I find other credible sources to support this information?
A tip for determining a website's credibility is to look at the end of the website domain. Generally websites with the following endings are credible and safe to use. However, always be sure to look at other factors when determining credibility.
.edu
.gov
.org
Your health professionals are here to help YOU!
Never be afraid to ask your doctor or provider to slow down, re-explain or provide extra information. Providers are NOT a one size fits all. If you ever feel a provider is not meeting your needs, it is always possible to switch to a better fit.
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