Health Literacy and Patient Preparation in Radiology |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Radiology, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60612;2. Department of Radiology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington 98105;3. Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington 98104-2499;4. Department of Radiology, University of Washington School of Medicine, 825 Eastlake Avenue East, G3-200, Seattle, WA, 98109-1023;5. Department of Health Services, University of Washington School of Public Health, 825 Eastlake Avenue East, G3-200, Seattle, WA, 98109-1023;6. Hutchinson Institute for Cancer Outcomes Research, 825 Eastlake Avenue East, G3-200, Seattle, WA, 98109-1023 |
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Abstract: | Health literacy is the capacity of an individual to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions. Unfortunately, more than half of Canadians cannot adequately navigate the health care system because they have limited health literacy. Patients with low health literacy may have limited reading abilities and poorer comprehension of written preparation documents. An important consideration in the radiation sciences for these patients is the ability to follow preparation requirements for diagnostic imaging procedures. It has been suggested that patients with limited health literacy are often less prepared for diagnostic examinations, and as a result, tend to have examinations of poorer diagnostic quality. Medical radiation technologists play an important role in educating patients regarding medical imaging examinations and helping them to properly prepare for these procedures. The purpose of this article is to define health literacy, provide some practical strategies to help medical radiation technologists identify patients with limited health literacy, and how to address limited health literacy issues to improve the quality of diagnostic imaging examinations. |
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Keywords: | Health literacy literacy preparation radiology radiography nuclear medicine |
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