Health Literacy

Article Abstract:

Many patients are not literate enough to understand health information such as the kind of information on medication labels, informed consent forms, health education brochures and appointment slips. The Ad Hoc Committee on Health Literacy of the American Medical Association's Council on Scientific Affairs reviewed 217 papers that studied the health literacy of Americans. These studies confirmed that many patients are health illiterate, especially old and sick patients. The largest study found that one third of English-speaking patients at 2 public hospitals could not read and understand basic health-related information.

Evaluation, Reports, Literacy, Health education, American Medical Association. Council on Scientific Affairs

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The medicalization of race: scientific legitimization of a flawed social construct

Article Abstract:

The use of ethnicity rather than race in describing patients may be more accurate and avoid mislabelling or mismanaging patients. Categorizing patients according to three to six races may be too confining since much racial intermixing exists. Labelling patients according to race may stigmatize patients and prevent appropriate medical care because of either prejudice or assumptions about medical characteristics of certain races. Allowing patients to define themselves by ethnic group gives them more input into their medical care and is a more fluid way of describing them.

Social aspects, Transcultural medical care

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