Capsule Commentary on Sentell et al., The Influence of Community and Individual Health Literacy on Self-Reported Health Status

Excerpt

“No man (or woman) is an island.”1 While we may instinctively accept this as citizens of a networked, globalized society, Sentell et al. provide empirical evidence of this truth as it relates to health literacy, and a novel approach to foster further work.2 Findings that individuals’ poor self-rated health increases 2 % for each percentage increase in community low health literacy are compelling. However, health literacy is complex. Another study recently found that poverty may directly affect peoples’ ability to make “good” decisions, including those related to their health.3 This is something that improving health literacy is believed to help. We may find, though, that poverty and health literacy function independently as they relate to health decision-making and associated health outcomes. If so, efforts to improve health by increasing health literacy in economically challenged individual patients and communities may prove futile if we do not address their poverty directly. …