health
Many still lost in translation
By JESUSA HELARATNE
HEALTH literacy is about how people understand information about health and
health care, and how they apply that information to their lives, use it to make
decisions and act on it.
Studies show seventy-five per cent of Australians with English as a second
language have poor health literacy? This means that they have a low
understanding of what to do when they are not well or sick, and where to go to get
treatment to get better.
Believe or not, three out of every five adult Australian patients do not have the
health literacy skills needed to understand and use everyday health information,
such as using medication safely or finding the right health service.
Health literacy is more than just being able to read the label on a medicine bottle,
it’s also about knowing how to use the information on the label to safely manage
your care and knowing where to go for help.
Research shows that Filipino-Australians also fall into this category suggesting
that while English proficiency is high within the community, health literacy are low.
Dr Della Maneze, MD and multicultural health promotion officer in South Western
Sydney highlighted in her PHD on ‘Acculturation and Health-Seeking Behaviour
Among Filipino Australians’ that there are significant differences between the
Australian and Filipino health care systems which have implications for access to
services and self-management of illnesses.
Migrant patients including Filipino-Australians who have high self-rated English
language may not have the necessary language proficiency to understand the
English language used in clinical settings.
The question is how can we work together to help increase the health literacy for
our community.
www.kalatas.com.au
In my many years working in health, I have encountered many Filos who have
lived in Australia for over 20 years and are still unfamiliar with health services
available for them.
Organisations must continue holding health information sessions to help our
community members better navigate the health system for better health outcomes
to fulfil our role in helping create a supportive health literacy environment for the
future generation of all Filipino-Australians.
AK NewsMagazine, Vol 9 No 1 2 | November
OCTOBER 2018
2018
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