From the Mercy Occupational Medicine October eNewsletter
In addition to Home Eye Safety Month, October is also Health Literacy Month. Health Literacy Month began in 1999 as a way to improve individuals’ understanding of their personal healthcare information. Studies show that a significant number of people—particularly older adults, minority populations, individuals with lower socioeconomic status, and medically underserved populations—have problems reading, understanding, and acting on health information, and Health Literacy Month is aimed at changing that fact.
There are two categories of health literacy of which individuals and organizations should be aware:
- Personal health literacy: The degree to which individuals have the ability to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others.
- Organizational health literacy: The degree to which organizations equitably enable individuals to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others.
At Mercy Urgent Care, we recognize the importance of making health information easy to understand and the health care system easier to navigate. We urge patients to speak up if there are questions regarding their visit results or treatment plans.
Mercy Urgent Care also urges individuals to “know their numbers,” particularly those dealing with one’s blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), cholesterol, and blood glucose levels. These numbers can have a significant impact on overall health for individuals.
Mercy Urgent Care is here to help companies looking to increase their own organizational health literacy. Mercy Occupational Medicine provides onsite workplace health and wellness programs to help employees make informed health-related decisions. Blood pressure checks, cholesterol testing and blood glucose testing are just some of the services offered to companies and their workers. Find more information about our onsite services here.
Source: CDC, Health.gov
