Healthcare literacy

The evolution of modern healthcare underscores the crucial question of societal priorities in development. When distributing finite healthcare resources, decision-makers must weigh numerous factors and navigate a range of sometimes conflicting criteria, including equity, access, fairness, and effectiveness. This chapter aims to survey the social implications of digital literacy as a pivotal element for the optimal advancement of P5 medicine, with the objective of enhancing healthcare services. The untapped potential of telemedicine and other emerging P5 technologies remains substantial in terms of their integration into routine medical practice...

AIMS: The kaupapa of the Caring for Australians and New Zealanders with Kidney Impairment (CARI) Clinical practice guidelines for management of chronic kidney disease for Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand is to provide whānau-centred and evidence-based recommendations to healthcare systems, healthcare providers and healthcare workers. The guidelines include screening, identification, management and system-level responses to chronic kidney disease (CKD) to deliver best practice care to Māori affected by CKD across community, primary and secondary services...

BACKGROUND: Digital determinants of health (DDoH), including access to technological tools, digital health literacy, and internet access, function independently as barriers to health. Assessment for DDoH is not routine within most healthcare systems, although addressing DDoH could help mitigate differential health outcomes and the digital divide. OBJECTIVE: To assess the role of individual-level factors of DDoH on patient enrollment in and use of the patient portal...

The objective of this study was to investigate self-medication behavior among Chinese adolescents aged 12-18 years and explore the factors associated with whether adolescents prioritize drug efficacy or safety when engaging in self-medication behavior. In 2021, a questionnaire investigation was conducted in the Chinese mainland using a multi-stage sampling approach. After a statistical description, logistic regression was used to analyze the factors associated with considering drug efficacy and safety...

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected students pursuing higher education, but limited studies highlight student's psychological experiences, especially from Western India. OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to understand psychological experiences, coping behaviors, and the perceived role of tele-counseling services among final-year students of Masters of Business Administration from leading business schools (B-schools) in Western India. DESIGN: A qualitative research design was adopted for the study...

This pedagogical activity asks instructors or workshop administrators to guide students through the process of evaluating evidence used to support health misinformation. In learning principles from argumentation and debate, students are asked to develop cases to refute or defend a factual claim about health, construct oral and written arguments for their cases, and share them with other students who will evaluate the strength and quality of evidence used by each side. Ultimately, students will learn how to: i) Understand how arguments are constructed that both support and refute a health claim; ii) evaluate evidence used for both sides of a claim of fact; and iii) identify health misinformation, particularly in an online context...

INTRODUCTION: While telemedicine offers significant benefits, there remain substantial knowledge gaps in the literature, particularly regarding its use in Saudi Arabia. This study aims to explore health consumers' behavioral intention to use telemedicine examining the associated factors such as eHealth literacy and attitudes toward telemedicine services. METHODS: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted to collect data on demographics, health status, internet skills, attitudes toward telemedicine, and eHealth literacy...

OBJECTIVE: The family environment influences oral health conditions and the utilization of dental services. The emotional link between the family members and the degree to which they are resilient and close to each other is represented as family cohesion and adaptability. This systematic review critically appraises and synthesizes existing evidence on the effect of family cohesion on oral health predictors in children and adolescents. METHODS: The protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023453608)...

This paper contributes to the debate about the role of Online Health Communities (OHCs) in the healthcare system by concentrating on the kind of information sought and shared by their members. The paper focuses on OHCs for diabetes and discusses the main findings of a qualitative study conducted in Italy and Poland. The Uses and Gratifications approach informed the study, while content analysis was used to perform the analysis. The findings show that OHCs' role goes beyond information and emotional support, which relies on expertise by experience...

BACKGROUND: The prevalence and healthcare cost of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) has increased alongside the epidemic surge in obesity and Type 2 diabetes. Weight loss through lifestyle modification remains the primary effective therapy for MASLD. Incorporation of mobile technology in lifestyle interventions has been previously found to be efficacious and cost-effective in facilitating weight loss. However, there is a paucity of studies that have successfully translated lifestyle research into clinical service for weight loss to alleviate disease burden...

BACKGROUND: Indigenous patients often present with complex health needs in clinical settings due to factors rooted in a legacy of colonization. Healthcare systems and providers are not equipped to identify the underlying causes nor enact solutions for this complexity. This study aimed to develop an Indigenous-centered patient complexity assessment framework for urban Indigenous patients in Canada. METHODS: A multi-phased approach was used which was initiated with a review of literature surrounding complexity, followed by interviews with Indigenous patients to embed their lived experiences of complexity, and concluded with a modified e-Delphi consensus building process with a panel of 14 healthcare experts within the field of Indigenous health to identify the domains and concepts contributing to health complexity for inclusion in an Indigenous-centered patient complexity assessment framework...

OBJECTIVES: To use verbal autopsy (VA) data to understand health system utilisation and the potential avoidability associated with fatal injury. Then to categorise any evident barriers driving avoidable delays to care within a Three-Delays framework that considers delays to seeking (Delay 1), reaching (Delay 2) or receiving (Delay 3) quality injury care. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of existing VA data routinely collected by a demographic surveillance site. SETTING: Karonga Health and Demographic Surveillance Site (HDSS) population, Northern Malawi...

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic transformed healthcare delivery with the rapid adoption of telehealth and digital technologies to access healthcare. Interventions are needed to ensure that older people in underserved communities do not face new technology-driven healthcare disparities. This article describes pioneering electronic medical record (EMR) embedded tools to assess and support each diverse patient's digital health literacy. METHODS: We designed and validated a rapid EMR-embedded Digital Health Engagement Tool (DHET) to assess each patient's digital literacy in English and Spanish...

BACKGROUND: In 2019, the Digital Healthcare Act created the legal basis for prescribable mobile health applications, referred to as DiGA (in German: Digitale Gesundheitsanwendungen), as a novel healthcare delivery option in Germany [1, 2]. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to analyze the use of DiGA in primary care, focusing on the influence of socio-demographic characteristics of family doctors (FDs) and patient-related factors. METHODS: Pen-and-paper survey among 97 FDs in the district of Giessen, Hesse, Germany...

BACKGROUND: Healthcare systems are increasingly resource constrained, leaving less time for important patient-provider interactions. Conversational agents (CAs) could be used to support the provision of information and to answer patients' questions. However, information must be accessible to a variety of patient populations, which requires understanding questions expressed at different language levels. METHODS: This study describes the use of Large Language Models (LLMs) to evaluate predefined medical content in CAs across patient populations...

INTRODUCTION: The World Health Organisation (WHO) accepted the Integrated People-centred Health Services (IPCHS) framework in 2016 as an essential component for achieving universal health coverage in fragmented health systems. We aimed to examine the empirical applications of the WHO IPCHS framework to guide its use in strengthening health-service research. METHODS: Academic databases and the IPCHS website were searched for relevant articles published between 2016 and July 2023...

PURPOSE: Health literacy (HL) is the degree in which individuals are able to access, comprehend, and use publicly available health resources and services. A previous study was done in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) assessing the prevalence of HL, the study shows that almost half of KSA residents had limited HL. Most studies that show the level of HL and its relationship to emergency department (ED) utilization were conducted outside KSA. This study aims to assess the association between HL and utilization of ED services and to estimate the prevalence, factors, and outcomes of low HL in KSA...

In the evolving landscape of cardiac rehabilitation (CR), adopting digital technologies, including synchronous/real-time digital interventions and smart applications, has emerged as a transformative approach. These technologies offer real-time health data access, continuous vital sign monitoring, and personalized educational enhanced patient self-management and engagement. Despite their potential benefits, challenges and limitations exist, necessitating careful consideration. Synchronous/real-time digital CR involves remote, two-way audiovisual communication, addressing issues of accessibility and promoting home-based interventions...

OBJECTIVES: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) sought to empower patients and caregivers to be more proactive in requesting ethics consultations. METHODS: Functionality was developed on MSK's electronic patient portal that allowed patients and/or caregivers to request ethics consultations. The Ethics Consultation Service (ECS) responded to all requests, which were documented and analysed. RESULTS: Of the 74 requests made through the portal, only one fell under the purview of the ECS...

CONTEXT: Culinary medicine (CM) is a growing field of education that aims to bridge the gap between the clinical need for nutritional counseling and the lack of education on the topic. Healthcare professionals can aid in nutrition-related noncommunicable disease (NCD) prevention by improving a patient's dietary behavior. However, the presence of nutrition education in healthcare curricula is lacking. Early evidence indicates that CM could address this gap. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study are to determine if the provision of an interdisciplinary CM elective will improve student knowledge and confidence with counseling on nutrition and culinary principles, and to improve personal dietary habits of students...