The importance of health literacy for healthy employees
Understanding Health Literacy
In 2020, the U.S. government’s Healthy People 2030 initiative redefined health literacy to emphasize two aspects: personal and organizational health literacy.
- Personal Health Literacy: This refers to an individual’s ability to locate, comprehend, and use health information and services to make informed decisions for themselves and others.
- Organizational Health Literacy: This highlights an organization’s role in providing equitable access to information and resources that allow individuals to make informed health decisions.
These definitions differ from those in Healthy People 2010 and 2020, which focused primarily on individuals’ understanding of health information. The new framework prioritizes the use of information, emphasizes informed decision-making over “appropriate” decision-making, and recognizes organizational responsibility in supporting health literacy.
From a public health perspective, organizational health literacy plays a role in promoting health equity — a state where everyone has the chance to attain optimal health.
Why is Health Literacy Important?
Health literacy supports inclusive, equitable access to quality education and lifelong learning. It’s influenced by social factors and requires that institutions — government, civil society, and health services — provide accessible, trustworthy information in formats everyone can understand and use. Regulating information across media, such as digital and print, ensures the reliability and accessibility of health resources.
By enhancing access to understandable health information, health literacy empowers individuals to make informed personal health choices and supports community action on public health issues. Low health literacy is linked to:
- Increased emergency room visits and hospitalizations
- Reduced adherence to treatments
- Higher mortality rates
Improving Health Literacy:
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends various strategies for enhancing both organizational and personal health literacy:
- Organizational Health Literacy: Improve training, communication, and access to culturally appropriate resources.
- Professional Health Literacy: Regularly train healthcare and education professionals to meet patients’ health literacy needs.
- Personal Health Literacy: Ensure access to accurate, timely information and integrate health education at all stages, from early childhood through adult learning.
- Population Health Literacy Assessment: Evaluate health literacy within communities to inform relevant policies and interventions.
Nutrition, Lifestyle, and Health:
Lifestyle choices, including diet, activities, and habits, influence chronic disease risks. Nutrition is particularly impactful. A balanced diet, such as the Mediterranean diet, is shown to reduce cardiovascular risk due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
Evidence supports that lifestyle adjustments — regular physical activity, maintaining healthy body weight, not smoking, and sound nutritional practices — significantly impact health. This concept underpins Lifestyle Medicine, which focuses on reducing chronic disease risks through lifestyle management.
The Role of Physical Activity and Risks of Inactivity:
According to WHO, physical activity encompasses all bodily movement that requires energy expenditure, such as walking, cycling, or recreational activities. It’s essential across all ages, offering benefits like improved cardiovascular health, cognitive function, mental health, and reduced body fat.
Physical inactivity, however, is a significant risk factor for chronic disease mortality. Insufficient activity raises the risk of death by 20-30% compared to adequate activity. Regular physical activity is beneficial for:
- Children and Adolescents: Improved fitness, bone health, mental well-being, and reduced body fat.
- Adults and Older Adults: Reduced risk of mortality, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and improved mental health and sleep.
- Pregnant and Postpartum Women: Lower risk of complications like gestational diabetes, hypertension, and postpartum depression.
On the other hand, a sedentary lifestyle, often due to motorized transport and screen time, has negative health impacts, including increased obesity, poorer cardiometabolic health, and heightened risk for diseases like type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular issues.
In summary, advancing health literacy and promoting active, informed lifestyle choices can foster healthier communities and mitigate chronic disease risks.
Sources
What Is Health Literacy? | Health Literacy | CDC
Long-lasting healthy changes: Doable and worthwhile – Harvard Health
Impact of Lifestyle Modifications on Cardiovascular Health: A Narrative Review – PMC
The importance of healthy lifestyles in helping achieving wellbeing – ScienceDirect