Health Literacy & Our Part as OT's

I thought this session was extremely insightful and opened the conversation to how we as occupational therapists need to be promoting health, wellness, and health literacy through our practice and in our communities. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement's Triple Aim had really interesting concepts to how they are approaching healthcare, and putting the focus back onto the patients to improve the quality and satisfaction of their experience. I think we as OT's should also be focusing to improve our patient experiences and how we interact with our patients. One main part of the Triple Aim that was really important to me was that we need to put more focus on our clients and their families because they are the experts of their own lives and the experts on their own health. If we can try to understand our clients better, we can understand their health and their goals more accurately too. 

By focusing more on our patients and going through the leaps and bounds of fully understanding their health, barriers, and their goals, we also need to get a better grasp of their health literacy. Health literacy is the ability of a client to understand, digest, and obtain health information and services, and I think that as occupational therapists we need to be sure we are being inclusive in every way possible. When I watched the Health Literacy video that Professor Flick shared with us which involved clients explaining that they did not understand their medications or were afraid of asking for help, I actually remember watching that in one of my undergrad classes. But it really struck a cord for me now because as I am working by way to become a future occupational therapist, and I need to be mindful and understanding of others and their health literacy. Health literacy is so important because it is empowering and when we empower and help our clients to understand their own health then it will have extremely beneficial outcomes for both client and therapist.