Health Literacy and Heart Failure

Abstract

Background Low health literacy affects millions of Americans, putting those who are affected at a disadvantage and at risk for poorer health outcomes. Low health literacy can act as a barrier to effective disease self-management; this is especially true for chronic diseases such as heart failure (HF) that require complicated self-care regimens. Purpose This systematic review examined quantitative research literature published between 1999 and 2014 to explore the role of health literacy among HF patients. The specific aims of the systematic review are to (1) describe the prevalence of low health literacy among HF patients, (2) explore the predictors of low health literacy among HF patients, and (3) discuss the relationship between health literacy and HF self-care and common HF outcomes. Methods A systematic search of the following databases was conducted, PubMed, CINAHL Plus, Embase, PsycINFO, and Scopus, using relevant keywords and clear inclusion and exclusion criteria. Conclusions An average of 39% of HF patients have low health literacy. Age, race/ethnicity, years of education, and cognitive function are predictors of health literacy. In addition, adequate health literacy is consistently correlated with higher HF knowledge and higher salt knowledge. Clinical Implications Considering the prevalence of low health literacy among in the HF population, nurses and healthcare professionals need to recognize the consequences of low health literacy and adopt strategies that could minimize its detrimental effect on the patient's health outcomes.

Evaluation of a nursing student health fair program: Meeting curricular standards and improving community members' health

“…Furthermore, studies have shown that limited health literacy is linked to poor health outcomes (Baskaradoss, ; Cheng, Bauer, Downs, & Sanders, ; Fonseca, Silva, & Canavarro, ; McNaughton et al., ; Wu et al., ). This is especially concerning for vulnerable populations such as that of our sample since limited health literacy has been associated with low income and socioeconomic status, lower levels of education, racial/ethnic minorities, older age, Spanish speakers, immigrants, and cognitively impaired individuals (Alberti & Morris, ; Baker, Wolf, Feinglass, & Thompson, ; Cajita, Cajita, & Hae‐Ra, ; Fonseca et al., ; Hahn et al., ; McNaughton et al., ; Walker, Pepa, & Gerard, ). By assessing health literacy at the needs assessment phase, students will be able to consider community members' level of health literacy in the cultural tailoring process, in addition to considering social, cultural, and developmental needs.…”

Empirically Tested Health Literacy Frameworks

“…The Cochrane Collaboration and the U.S. Institute of Medicine have endorsed that review teams must have content and methodological expertise (Bigendako & Syriani, 2018;Gøtzsche & Ioannidis, 2012;Institute of Medicine, 2011). A major strength of this study is that our contributors have undergone training in systematic review methodology and have published prior reviews (Cajita, Cajita, & Han, 2016;Han, Floyd, et al, 2018;. Additionally, most of the authors are clinicians with expertise in health promotion among populations with poor health literacy.…”

Quality and Health Literacy Demand of Online Heart Failure Information

“…It is estimated that 36% of adult Americans have low health literacy 3 . Similarly, among people with heart failure, approximately 39% have low health literacy 4 . In heart failure, low health literacy has been associated with lower heart failure knowledge 5,6 , poor self-care behaviors 7 , poor medication adherence 8 , and increased risk for rehospitalizations 7 .…”