313394 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Health Literacy, Australian Aboriginal English, Health Professional
WEEK 11: Communicating and working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people and communities
Health Literacy
‘Health literacy is about communicating health information clearly and understanding it correctly’
The ACSQHC (2014) report on health literacy identified only 40% of Australians as having adequate
health literacy. People with low levels of health literacy are associated with:
• increased rates of hospitalisation and greater use of emergency care
• lower use of mammography and lower uptake of the influenza vaccine
• poorer ability to demonstrate taking medications appropriately
• poorer ability to interpret labels and health messages
• poorer knowledge among consumers about their own disease or condition
• poorer overall health status among older people
• higher risk of death among older people (ACSQHC, 2014).
Health Literacy and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People
As the ACSQHC (2014) report demonstrated the lack of health literacy in the general population exists
irrespective of cultural background. Most non-Indigenous health professionals are not trained to
identify health literacy barriers or how to communicate in a way that facilitates health literacy when
working with Aboriginal people. The potential for miscommunication/misunderstanding is significant.
It has been suggested that health professionals have a limited understanding of health literacy and
how low levels of health literacy impact Indigenous patients (Lambert et al., 2014).
The dominant expectation has been that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples can and should
speak English well enough to access and act upon health information provided by services today
(Taylor & Guerin, 2014). This expectation, reliant upon language proficiency alone, does not consider
the influence of worldview and culturally determined beliefs that influence the health care process.
Health professionals and their organisations need to do much more to improve the health literacy of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
According to the ACSQHC (2014), to address health literacy in a coordinated way, action needs to be
taken across three areas:
1. Embedding health literacy into systems through program planning and designing
healthcare organisations that are easier for people to navigate.
2. Ensuring effective communication – providing print, electronic or other communication
that is appropriate for the needs of consumers. It also involves supporting effective
partnerships, communication and interpersonal relationships between consumers,
healthcare providers, managers, administrative staff and others.
3. Integrating health literacy into education – educating consumers and healthcare
providers. This could entail population health programs, health promotion and
education strategies, school health education, and social marketing campaigns as well
as formal education and training of healthcare providers.
find more resources at oneclass.com
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General communication principles
Figure 3: DeVito (2013)
Active listening
Active listening is a communication skill that requires concentration, attention and a minimal verbal
response to help the speaker articulate his or her thoughts” (Eunson, 2008).
Active listening is not just about sitting and doing nothing. It is a sincere attempt to understand what
is being communicated. It involves being prepared to listen and not rushing the patient because of
other commitments
There are two levels of meaning in language
Denotative - An objective definition (something you would find in a dictionary).
Connotative - A subjective definition (emotional meaning and personal association to a word).
Each word has two definitions, the denotative and the connotative. The denotative meaning is basically
the dictionary meaning, the one that almost anyone can understand. An objective definition. The
connotative meaning of a word can have a strong emotional content. In other words, an individual can
respond emotionally rather than intellectually to hearing or reading a word (a subjective response).
An example of denotative and connotative
Take the word ‘mother’, for example. The dictionary would define mother as ‘a female parent’. but the
word ‘mother’ probably creates emotions and feelings in you: it paints a picture in your mind. You may
think of love and security or you may think of your own mother. The emotions and feelings that a word
creates are called its connotative meaning.
Verbal communication used by health professional that can result in misunderstandings
Slang
Informal non-stadad laguage. Thats ool ight e efeig to
tepeatue. Chill out eas al do.
Euphemism/metaphors
A polite word or phrase to substitute for a taboo or offensive term.
Death - pushing up the daisies, six feet under, copped it, passed away,
not with us anymore. Menstruation – period, time of the month,
womanly business, pleasantly plump – obese
Sublanguage / Technical Language
Medical jargon
Non-verbal Communication
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Week 11: communicating and working with aboriginal and torres strait. Health literacy is about communicating health information clearly and understanding it correctly". The acsqhc (2014) report on health literacy identified only 40% of australians as having adequate health literacy. Health literacy and aboriginal and torres strait islander people. As the acsqhc (2014) report demonstrated the lack of health literacy in the general population exists irrespective of cultural background. Most non-indigenous health professionals are not trained to identify health literacy barriers or how to communicate in a way that facilitates health literacy when working with aboriginal people. It has been suggested that health professionals have a limited understanding of health literacy and how low levels of health literacy impact indigenous patients (lambert et al. , 2014). The dominant expectation has been that aboriginal and torres strait islander peoples can and should speak english well enough to access and act upon health information provided by services today (taylor & guerin, 2014).
