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Article: Health literacy: implications for ambulatory care.(Perspective in Ambulatory Care)
- Article from:
- Nursing Economics
- Article date:
- September 1, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 Jannetti Publications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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HEALTH LITERACY IS THE degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, understand, and act on health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions (American Medical Association, 1999; Healthy People, 2001). Along with self-management and continuity of care, health literacy is crosscutting area for research and intervention to improve the nation's health (Adams & Corrigan, 2003). Many ambulatory care patients either have multiple co-morbidities or are the caregiver for a patient with co-morbidities and face increased demands for self-care. Those patients and caregivers who also struggle with low health literacy are at increased risk ...