Health Literacy Month

October is Health literacy Month

So just what is health literacy? I found this definition

Health Literacy is defined in the Institute of Medicine report, Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion, as "the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions."

The single biggest reason I started writing books was to help families understand healthcare topics that they may encounter at a very basic level. Parents can and should be able to help their children understand what they may be encountering. Head lice is something no one ever talks about (and rightly so) until it effects them. So exactly how do head lice move? How long do they live? Do pets carry head lice? If you understand some basic information you can more effectively deal with the head lice or whatever health care issue you encounter. More information can lead to better outcomes. The answers to the questions: crawling, 30 days if near a warm scalp, about 24 hours away from a warm scalp and pets don’t carry head lice.

There are a few websites that talk about healthcare literacy. I have listed two of them.

https://healthliteracy.com/

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement is good too

http://www.ihi.org/resources/Pages/Tools/Ask-Me-3-Good-Questions-for-Your-Good-Health.aspx

I hope that the books I write provide a little information to families in an easy to read format. Books for children can be entertaining but can also be educational, too.

As always, thank you for your support!

Karen