is
in reality "sick-care". Being a treatment-oriented society, America
spends more on healthcare than any other nation on the planet (3
Trillion dollars annually, or 20% of our Gross Domestic Product). The
majority of these funds (96%) goes toward treatment; with the remaining
4% spent on Education and Prevention. Still, we are one of the sickest
nations in the world, ranking 32nd in Life Expectancy among countries of
the World Health Organization.
For the first time in the history of our nation we are raising a
generation of children who will live sicker and shorter lives than their
parents.Personal health is not a political issue! Your health and well-being is directly influenced by your lifestyle choices, your values, your behaviors, your habits. Numerous studies have shown that every $1 spent on prevention equates to $5 saved in health-care and treatment; education is the key that ignites this process!
Health literacy, or the ability (knowledge and skills) to make quality health-related decisions, is at the forefront in our fight to reverse these catastrophic numbers. However, fewer and fewer people possess the appropriate tools to make well-informed health-related decisions. Adding to this problem, health and fitness education in U.S. schools is no longer a priority; in principle, in practice, or in funding, as these programs are pushed to the backburner, and in some cases eliminated altogether. With preventable, chronic disease at epidemic levels, the need for health education has never been more important!
| Health | Wellness | Mortality |
| Morbidity | Prevalence | Incidence |
| Health Disparities | Risk Factor | Plain Language |
| Chronic Disease | Communicable Disease | Health Literacy |
| Health: Basic Training |
- Health Defined:
- The definition of Health is ever-changing.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) in 1946 defined it as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
- Recent definitions of health are more holistically stated (dealing with the whole person), and are multi-dimensional (see below)
- Early Health:
- The discovery of microorganisms in the late 1800's was the motive for defining health as good hygiene, which included sanitation and other behaviors.
- Clean, safe water, and improved sanitation have contributed to better control of infectious disease.
- The definition of Health is ever-changing.
- The Dimensions of Health:
- Physical Health: A highly functioning body; the ability to maintain a healthy quality of life that allows us to get through our daily activities without undue fatigue or physical stress.
- Social Health: The ability to relate to and connect with other people in our world. Our ability to establish and maintain positive relationships with family, friends, co-workers, classmates, and instructors.
- Intellectual Health: The ability to think clearly, reason objectively, analyze critically, use brainpower to meet life's challenges.
- Environmental Health: An appreciation of the external environment and the roles individuals play to protect and improve environmental conditions.
- Emotional Health: The ability to express and control emotions appropriately; the ability to acknowledge and share feelings of anger, fear, sadness or stress; hope, love, joy and happiness in a productive manner
- Spiritual Health: An understanding of one's meaning and purpose in life; an appreciation for the depth and expanse of life and the peace that comes from belief in a supreme being.
- Wellness Defined:
- Wellness is the active process through which people become
aware of, and make choices toward, a more successful existence.
(National Wellness Institute)
- Wellness is a conscious, self-directed and evolving process of achieving full potential.
- Wellness is multi-dimensional and holistic, encompassing
lifestyle, mental and spiritual well-being, and the
environment.
- Wellness is the active process through which people become
aware of, and make choices toward, a more successful existence.
(National Wellness Institute)
- Health Literacy:
- Health literacy is an Individual's capacity to obtain,
process, and understand basic health information needed to make
appropriate health-related decisions.
- Recent studies show that health literacy tends to be a better predictor of our wellness than age, income, race, or education level.
- Limited health literacy increases the disparity in health care access among vulnerable populations (such as racial/ethnic minorities and the elderly).
- Studies show that problems with patient compliance and medical errors are often caused by poor understanding of health care information.
- Individuals with low health literacy and chronic diseases (such as diabetes, asthma, or hypertension) have less knowledge of their disease and its treatment and fewer correct self-management skills than literate patients
- For additional information on Health Literacy, click here.
- Vulnerable Populations: (Approximately
half of Medicare/Medicaid recipients read below the fifth-grade
level)
- Elderly (age 65+)
- Minority Populations
- Immigrant Populations
- Low Income
- People with Chronic Mental and/or Physical Health Conditions
- Plain Language:
- A national strategy for making written and oral information easier to understand, an essential tool in the fight to improve health literacy.
- Plain language is communication that users can understand the first time they read or hear it. With reasonable time and effort, a plain language document is one in which people can find what they need, understand what they find, and act appropriately on that understanding.
- Key elements of plain language include:
- Organizing information so that the most important points come first
- Breaking complex information into understandable chunks
- Using simple language and defining technical terms
- Using the active voice
- Health literacy is an Individual's capacity to obtain,
process, and understand basic health information needed to make
appropriate health-related decisions.
- Health Disparities:
- Population-specific differences in the presence of disease, health outcomes, quality of health care and access to health care services that exist among specific population groups in the United States.
- The concept of Health Disparities is multidimensional in the
United States. The ability to achieve a high quality of health,
or access quality healthcare, can be influenced by:
- Race or Ethnicity
- Sex and Sexual Identity
- Age
- Education Level
- Disability
- Socioeconomic Status
- Geographic Location, and Geographic Access to Care
- Healthy People 2020 defines health equity as the “attainment of the highest level of health for all people".
- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has recently outlined a Plan of Action dealing with Health Disparities in the United States (click here)
- Prevention:
- Defined:
- Taking positive action now to avoid becoming sick later.
- Steps to improve our longevity (health) and quality (wellness) of life.
- Prevention should be woven into all aspects of our lives,
including where and how we live, learn, work and play.
Everyone—government, businesses, educators, health care
institutions, communities and every single American—has a role
in creating a healthier nation (CDC).
- Types of Prevention include:
- Primary Prevention: Personal
lifestyle approach (habits, behaviors) that occur
outside the healthcare system and directly impact the
quantity and quality of life.
- Clinical Prevention: Action within the healthcare system to observe, evaluate, and track health. Procedures such as ongoing physical examinations, colonoscopies, mammograms, and vital records tracking.
- Community-Based Prevention: Investments in Community-Based Programs to keep people healthy; programs to educate and promote positive lifestyle choices; programs to bring well-person preventative care in areas of high poverty.
- Primary Prevention: Personal
lifestyle approach (habits, behaviors) that occur
outside the healthcare system and directly impact the
quantity and quality of life.
- The National Prevention Strategy is a comprehensive plan
that will help increase the number of Americans who are
healthy at every stage of life. The strategy provides
evidence-based recommendations on behalf of the National
Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council in
consultation with the public and an Advisory Group of
outside experts. The strategy components (below) are
fundamental to improving the nation's health through the
active engagement of all sectors of society to help achieve
four broad strategic directions:
- Building Healthy and Safe Community Environments: Prevention of disease starts in our communities and at home; not just in the doctor's office. For example, businesses and employers can adopt practices to encourage their workforce to increase physical activity and reduce pollution (e.g., workplace flexibility, rideshare and vanpool programs, park-and-ride incentives, travel demand management initiatives, and telecommuting options).
- Expanding Quality Preventive Services in Both Clinical and Community Settings: When people receive preventive care, such as immunizations and cancer screenings, they have better health and lower health care costs. For example, expanding the linkages between clinical and community prevention efforts, such as diabetes prevention programs that support preventive efforts among underserved groups and can improve access to preventive services.
- Empowering People to Make Healthy Choices: Policies and programs can make healthy options the easy and affordable choice, and when people have access to actionable and easy-to-understand information and resources, they are empowered to make healthier choices. For example, health care professionals can use multiple communication tools (e.g., mobile phone applications, personal health records, and credible health websites) and culturally competent methods to support more traditional written and oral communication.
- Eliminating Health Disparities: By eliminating disparities in achieving and maintaining health, we can help improve quality of life for all Americans. For example, health care providers can train and hire more qualified staff from underrepresented racial and ethnic minority groups and people with disabilities.
- The Seven Priority Areas Identified by the
National Prevention Strategy as the Leading Causes of
Preventable Death and Major Illness:
- Tobacco free living
- Preventing drug abuse and excessive alcohol use
- Healthy eating
- Active living
- Injury and violence-free living
- Reproductive and sexual health
- Mental and emotional wellbeing
- Types of Prevention include:
- Defined:
- Common Health-Related Terms:
- Chronic Disease: A range of illnesses that persists over an extended period of time, is not easily or quickly resolved, and cannot be cured by medication (although symptoms can often be controlled with medication).
- Prevalence: The number of existing cases of a disease.
- Incidence: The number of newly diagnosed cases of a disease.
- Mortality: Another term for death. Mortality rate is the number of deaths, due to a disease, divided by the total population.
- Morbidity: The relative incidence of disease, or illness rates.
- Medical Terms, It's All Greek (or Latin) to Me:
- Basic to our survival in the healthcare arena is a brief working knowledge of the terms and lingo tossed around by doctors and medical professionals. A small understanding of basic terminology can be valuable in our communication with healthcare personnel, and useful as we research personal health information.
- To begin, most medical terms are derived from a Latin or
Greek origin. Traditionally, there are three basic parts to a
medical term:
- Root Word: usually in the middle of the word and its central meaning.
- Prefix: comes at the beginning and usually identifies description, or part of the central meaning.
- Suffix: comes at the end and modifies the central
meaning as to what or who is interacting with it, or what is
happening to it.
- Example: Hypothermia (less heat), or Thermometer( measuring heat)
- Root Word: therm (heat)
- Prefix: hypo (below root word)
- Suffix: meter (to measure)
- Example: Hypothermia (less heat), or Thermometer( measuring heat)
- Click on the Medical Terms Link Below for Further Information and a Review of Common Prefixes and Suffixes Used In Healthcare.
- Health Illiteracy at a Glance:
- Nearly 9 out of 10 adults have difficulty using the everyday health information that is routinely available in health care facilities, retail outlets, media, and communities
- It is estimated that the health of 90 million people in the U.S. may be at risk because of the difficulty some patients experience in understanding and acting upon health information.
- One of five American adults reads at the 5th grade level or below, and the average American reads at the 8th to 9th grade level, yet most health care materials are written above the 10th grade level.
- According to the Center for Health Care Strategies, a
disproportionate number of minorities and immigrants are
estimated to have literacy problems:
- 50% of Hispanics
- 40% of Blacks
- 33% of Asians
- More than 66% of US adults age 60 and over have either inadequate or marginal literacy skills.
- The annual health care costs for individuals with low literacy skills are 4 times higher than those with higher literacy skills.
- Only about 50% of all patients take medications as directed.
- Patients with low literacy skills were observed to have a 50% increased risk of hospitalization, compared with patients who had adequate literacy skills.
- Research suggests that people with low literacy:
- Make more medication or treatment errors
- Are less able to comply with treatments
- Lack the skills needed to successfully negotiate the health care system
- Are at a higher risk for hospitalization than people with adequate literacy skills.
- A recent study found that those with limited health literacy skills reported a sense of shame about their skill level. As a result, they may hide reading or vocabulary difficulties to maintain their dignity.
- Health Spending in the United States:
- 3 Trillion dollars spent annually (This equates to $10,000
every year for every man, woman and child in the United States.
- Hospital Care: 36.3%
- Physician and Other Professional Services: 27.4%
- Prescription Drugs and Other Medical Nondurables: 14.0%
- Nursing Home Care: 6.6%
- Dental Services: 4.9%
- Home Health Care: 3.3%
- Medical Durables: 1.7%
- Education and Prevention: 3.9%
- Other Health, Residential, and Personal Care: 2%
- 3 Trillion dollars spent annually (This equates to $10,000
every year for every man, woman and child in the United States.
- Total Number of Retail Prescription Drugs Filled at
Pharmacies, 2011:
- 3,764,698,318 (3.8 Trillion)
