What is Health Literacy?
Health literacy plays an important role in the healthcare system. It is the awareness regarding an individuals health as well as the factors influencing it both positively and negatively and the steps being taken to curb the negative influence. Thus an individual who is aware and knowledgeable about health will take appropriate measures for him and his family and in turn the community at large. Health literacy influences various factors such as access to health care, ability to understand as well as follow through the instructions provided by healthcare professionals and self care.
Functional Literacy and Health literacy
Developing countries face poor health literacy skills as firstly there is low functional literacy which is the basic ability to read and write. Functional literacy and poor socioeconomic status are directly proportional. Hence individuals are unable to firstly receive the information via various forms of media and even if they do by certain means their ability to process the information for their advantage is greatly reduced resulting in poor health outcome. Thus health literacy can only be improved if individuals are provided with basic primary education which in turn will be beneficial to the country at large as well as increasing various parameters of health communication by adopting various measures of print, broadcast and more importantly the personal communication with a healthcare provider. Knowledge empowers an individual thus leading to better interaction with healthcare providers by controlling personal, social and environmental determinants of health as well as the confidence and skills to utilize effectively the healthcare system. We must realize the fact that an individual with better health literacy will more opportunities and capabilities to enhance social health by influencing towards other healthy decisions.
Healthcare Management Courses
Professionals are trained to develop knowledge regarding various health promotion aspect, health programs with a global perspective. Thus, it is essential to choose an Institute which hones the skills and knowledge on various aspects of health. James Lind Institute strives to achieve excellence for individuals training to be health promoters so that post this course a student is ready for any responsibility in the industry. Apart from having mentors from the industry the institute also provides hands on experience of the job thus make it a lucid opportunity for a budding trainee. The courses offered are Advanced Post Graduate Diploma in Healthcare and Hospital Management and Advanced Post Graduate Diploma in Global Health management and Policy. JLI also conducts a Masters in Healthcare Management in collaboration with Universit Telematica Internazionale UNINETTUNO Rome, ITALY.
