Question

Health communication topic:

Define low literacy. Explain how culture can cause barriers to communication with patients with low literacy. List three examples of barriers of communication associated with low literacy and explain how "plain language can be used" to establish effective communication in each of these examples.

Answer 1

Low literacy:- low literacy indicates weak level of skills that can identifies from people can read but fails or week in test. For that they use copying skills but can't generate their own skills.this difficulty causes noval demand such like new job skills and many more. At a place where people are educated but not more than sufficient. The can read,copy,listen, understand but in test they can't perform well.

Culture can cause barriers in communication with low literacy patients. Because literacy makes changes in peoples thought and brings out them from misconceptions. Low literacy patients that have cultural restrictions and rule regulations that holds by their community can cause problem in communication like females from these families can't talk with another person who is bigger then him.that can cause an serious communication problem that is relevant and create problem in treatment. Values beliefs and attitude also create problem in effective communication .

Barriers of communication associated with low literacy:-

1. Language that is used

2. Describing the technical terms

3. Making him believes in doctor's procedure.

Plain language can be used to make an effective communication like -

- if patients can't understand language that is used by nursing staff or doctor that problem can be solved due to talking with patient in plain language.

- if patient can't understand technical terms in medical terms then simplify them in local or plain language that helps in simplifying the terms.

- doctor procedure is not understandable by low literacy patient so plain language is the best way to communicate with patient.