Health Literacy For Children Essay

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HEALTH LITERACY FOR CHILDREN
Health literacy is the understanding health information and been able to apply it. In order for health literacy to be effective it is believed that it should start early in life. As a community nurse at the Yvonne Learning Center, in a low-income urban area it is important to develop a Health Literacy Program for the children. This program will be developed in order to promote self-learning and ability to be self-sufficient in children that will be carried later on in life to adulthood.
Why is health literacy essential? By starting health literacy early in life, kids have a better chance of leading healthier lives (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). Health literacy affects people's ability to navigate the healthcare system, share their personal information with their providers, and engage in management of chronic-diseases and self- care (US Department of Health and Human Services, n.d). Low health literacy has been known to lead to poor health outcomes such as less frequent use of preventive services, which leads to higher rates of hospitalizations, which are associated with higher healthcare costs (US Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.). It is imperative to learn this skill early on as children as they will be carried out as adults. …show more content…

In order to design this program there are some things to consider. First the age of the children and the literacy level of each group (age 3-7, 9-12, and 14-18). The community nurse needs to consider how to impact each age group. The nurse also needs to know the children’s knowledge toward their health. Also what resource are available in this neighborhood. As well as the cultural background and some of their family history. The community needs to be assess in order to know what these children need to learn about health

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