Promoting Health Literacy for Children in Developing Countries - Assignment Example

? Promotion Of Health Literacy Number: Semester/year: Campus convener: The world in general has numerous types of diseases, some of the diseases are well known to people all over the world. Unfortunately some of these diseases are strange to people and those who may be suffering from them may not have a clue to what is affecting them. The essay below seeks to explain and shed more light to this disease. It creates more awareness and tries to sensitize the public about the diseases. Gastroenteritis is one disease that affects infants, children and adults. The disease is common in both the developed and developing countries. Notably, due to the lack of appropriate resources and machinery, the developing countries may lack the knowhow and the technology to identify the disease. This essay focuses on the illiteracy found in this country, it tries to devise ways in which awareness can be promoted. This study ventures into the field of health issues and focuses on the impacts of health illiteracy across the board in the society with some emphasis made on the effects of Gastroenteritis in children. Health literacy according to US Library Of Medicine (2010) is the ability to read, understand and act on medical guidelines. It involves the ability of the public to understand various disease symptoms, and interpret the prescriptions as instructed by the health officer. Gastroenteritis is one the major killer of children above 5 years, BMC Public Health (2007) estimates the mortality number of children under the above age to be between 450,000 to 700,000 each year. Other 2 million kids are hospitalized every year due to the disease. The disease in previous years took the lives of more children than the number quoted above. In the recent years the number has reduced considerably due to the introduction of vaccines. Notably, Gastroenteritis is a disease of the gastrointestinal tract which inflames the system leading to symptoms of diarrhea, vomiting, cramping and severe abdominal pains. The virus responsible for the disease is known as rotavirus in children, norovirus and Campylobacter in adults. The disease is not likely to be caused by bacteria or parasites. Notably, the disease is more present in the less developed countries due to the low hygienic standards. This includes contaminated water since less developed countries do not have the required resources to improve water circulation hence making the disease more prevalent. Secondly due to the lack of proper food sources and poor living standards less developed countries with per capita income of less than a dollar, citizens may eat poorly cooked food which in turn results into Gastroenteritis. According to MacDonald. et al (2012) most of the cases of Gastroenteritis are in children in less developed countries. This is a result of the scarcity of health centers where medical care is limited, According to GlaxoSmithKline (2012) notes that the infection rate of the rotavirus gastroenteritis is similar in both developed and developing countries, the only difference is the measures taken to improve the hygiene, sanitation and living standards. This has a hand in reducing the causes of the occurrence of the disease. As quoted earlier the quickest solution to curbing the spread of the disease which according to research can be spread from one person to the other is through vaccination. The developed countries can easily access vaccination medicine since they have enough capital and better policies to govern such institutions unlike developing countries who not only struggle with economic development but also do not have enough resources to cater for the upcoming national problems. Consequently they are left at the mercy of international organization such as the red cross, Used and AUSaid which chip in their support when the situation has been aggravated and it is in the limelight of the international and regional media stations. Children affected by the disease require close care and affection. Viruses are responsible for 70% of acute Gastroenteritis. As noted earlier acute Gastroenteritis leads to dehydration. There according to Chow, Leung and Hon suggested that there is a form of therapy known as the Oral rehydration therapy responsible for the dehydration process. Nurses are mandated to see through this process under the guidance and instructions of the doctor. The main responsibility at their hand is to communicate the intensity of the problem to the concerned parents to ensure that the necessary measures are taken to reduce the prevalence and second contraction of the disease. The nurses are a vital pillar of the process, they guide the patients towards their recovery. According to Bresee. J et al (2009) the nurse should ensure that the patient takes a lot of fluids, this is a measure to curb dehydration which is a result of acute Gastroenteritis. Children affected by the disease do not have the ability to eat solid food and thus it is the responsibility of the registered nurse to oversee the recovery process. The main reason patients do not follow the instructions set by the doctor may be as a result of ignorance but most of the times is as a result of illiteracy. Hence the wrong dosage may be taken, and the response to the symptoms exhibited by contracting various diseases is minimal. That is why most patients go to hospitals when the disease is at its acute stage. Therefore the doctors cannot do a lot about the situation hence the patient’s condition deteriorates in some cases leading to death. This is the main reason behind cancer cases. Most patients do not know what to look for, thus the condition is more aggravated. Recently there have been developments in the field thus the conditions can easily be noticed. But this case is not the same all over the world since some countries do not have the required technology to be able to establish this new condition therefore the risk increases. Literate patients are always on the advantage since they are able to identify the disease before it becomes fatal. Thus in the case affecting the gastrointestinal patients they are able to realize the intensity of the disease therefore responding fast and seeking the required health attention. Weiss (2007) states that the medicine is becoming complex daily, thus the patients are supposed to note the modifications daily and mutate in knowledge as the various medications diversify. For a patient to be able to take good care of themselves they need to know what is required of them. Without the necessary knowledge the measures to be taken are not that obvious. That is why lately people are taking into gyms and eating healthy diets because they know what comes with good feeding habits. Unlike the literate people, the illiterate individuals are left at the mercy of fate since they have not set the appropriate ground rules to watch their health closely. Literacy does not only help in disease prevention, Weiss (2007) quotes, it is evident that medications have gradually changed over time. He notes that the medicine prescribed for the heart conditions in some years ago is not the same one used to date. Therefore an illiterate patient may not be aware of the changes. One point worth noting is that diseases or viruses mutate daily and become immune to the medications. Therefore it is the responsibility of the medical institutions to come up with new medicine that eliminate the disease fully. In cases of over the counter medication, patients who are not aware of this change are likely to go for the old medicine, which may prove to be ineffective , and as a result the patient may think they have another disease that exhibits the same symptoms. Hence going for alternative medicine, this may lead to more complications. As a result the medical institutions and other drug and medicine agencies have come up with campaigns targeting the illiterate public to ensure that once they buy an over the counter medication and it does not work the next step they should take is to report to the nearest health center. According to Baker. D (2006)’ Health literacy varies in various ways. Starting with the health provider, the health problem and the system in place to remedy the disease. Some patients, lack the required information in one of the above named fields or all of them. He goes further to note that health literacy also varies in terms of knowledge. Some view the knowledge as written or unwritten, numerical and oral. This trivial knowledge trickles down from the doctor’s advice at the health center, in terms of precautions to take and the instructions written on the prescription. The health institutions have come with new ways to encourage literacy among patients. Some of these policies are printing of information cards which inform the patients on the new inventions. In order to come up with appropriate literature the experts should be able to gauge the level of illiteracy in each patient. Some criteria have been proposed to form a basis for the evaluation. They involve the determination of a person’s capacity, the ability to read. Others are the opinion that literacy should be determined according to the interaction between the health officer and the patient. Thus the patients who are not able to explain their case to the health officer are found to be lacking in knowledge. A literate patient in the context of the gastrointestinal disease according Elliot. E. J ( 2007) should be conversant with the cause and clinical characteristics of the disease. This involves the understanding of the Rotavirus infection and responding appropriately. Nutbeam. D (2006) acknowledges that the main reason behind the prevalence of illiteracy in the world, is the laxity of the some of the education systems. He advocates for more personal communication on health literacy. Secondly he notes that communities should be sensitized through outreaches to understand the impact of health literacy. In the past, it was widely assumed that the most educated people and the rich were in a better position to understand and interpret health messages, But Nutbeam. D (2006) notes that this was the main reason behind the deterioration of the level literacy of the past which has been passed down through many generations. Luckily, the trend was stopped in the 1980s, after the invention of new theory extensive innovations modeled towards improvement of health literacy. The inventions were made to suit the public and encourage them in making rational health decisions. Another approach taken to ensure literacy was the campaign towards behavior improvement which was meant to discourage the youth against abuse of drugs and at long run the social skills were modified to ensuring better health decisions. At the same time some theories were developed to try and explain the level of illiteracy, the same information was used to come up with new methods of improving the awareness and social responsibility towards health literacy. Nutbeam. D (2006) takes the approach that behavioral improvement led to automatic change in decision making and as a result better health decisions towards health literacy were made. He notes that the various efforts that have been made towards behavior change have not fully changed the situation, thus the gap between the educated and the rich exists, hence the ability to make rational and informed decisions does not exist. According to Weiss. B (2007) 89 million American adults do not have enough health literacy. Notably, it mainly affects the old, the poor, the minority and also people who do not have English as their first language. He approximates the effect of healthy illiteracy on the economy to be approximately between 50 and 73 billion dollars. A research was done in the United States, and it was noted that most illiterate population depended on the text such as the pamphlets and other documents to guide them when making decisions relating to health. Health decisions differ depending with the person responsible for making the decision. Individuals vary in respect to the access to information, the skills, knowledge and abilities. As illustrated earlier most of the literacy levels depend on the institution, system and the individual. Thus every individual decision made in respect to the society and family are in respect to the mentioned parameters. Mainly health illiteracy is influenced by the oral communication. An important aspect under analysis is the possibility of ensuring that children access printed media and well equipped with the necessary skills to develop analytical skills. Community campaigns and education have been on the rise, with the formation of groups, geared towards improving and empowering the members to partake in the activities and mobilizing the public to adapt and gain interest in acquiring information. Community health is a vital component of the development and improvement of literacy in the society, some principles govern the whole process on how roles are allocated. A practicing nurse should ensure that the needs of individuals, families are articulated and are delivered within the set constraints. A community is a combination of various families thus in the quest to harmonize and deliver good results in terms improving literacy levels, the concerned authority must take note of the family connection and try to tap into it to achieve great feedback in terms of performance. As quoted earlier in respect to Nurseslabs (2013) in order to be effective in sanitizing a community to uphold high literacy levels, one must first appreciate the values and beliefs of the community in order to ensure that the intended purpose is also reciprocated. The education process should be involved in terms of integrating counseling to avoid the probability of boredom. The team in charge of the process is willing to collaborate with the community over time. Once the process is complete it is advisable to monitor the process periodically. The national health council (2011) states that some of the health promotion principles include empowerment of the people to give them the power and the confidence to make rational decisions and they know the intensity of the decisions they make. This ensures accountability and they can control the way into which they approach various activities. Secondly the process of health promotion requires the input of various parties. The achievement cannot be done single handedly. Therefore the health promotion principles propose that all parties should be participative thus everybody should take an active role in the process. For an effective process, several people should combine and harmonize their expertise to come up with a holistic conclusion. The national health council (2011) cites that many factors come into play for a conclusive process. Once the process has been concluded it is expected that the status quo is maintained or the promotion process is improved. As quoted earlier the process of health promotion is not achievable on an individual bases, it is intersectoral meaning various departments come into coalition to achieve a common goal. Various strategies come into action to come up with a viable solution towards health promotion. Most models according to Abelson and Hutchison (2011) were categorized according to the person who provides the service. The models were categorized as nurse centered, physician centered or collaborative. Earlier I had looked into the contribution of nurses into the health literacy and it would appropriate to reiterate that nurses play the most vital role in every patient's life. Secondly the physician is also an important contribution to the health care process. He/she provides the guidelines and the roadmap as to how the RN should carry out the duties. In the light of this reflection, brings the collaborative model which involves the harmony between the nurse and the physician. The World Health Education (2013) quotes “the social determinants of health as the conditions in which people are born, grow up, mature and get older. These changes are usually influenced by money, local and international resources and authority”. Social determinants of health are responsible for the gap between the literate and the illiterate in the society. The rift separates people in terms of their economic and educational levels. Various proposals have been developed to come with solutions to fill the fissure. The suggestion brought forward suggest that improvement of governance would go a long way to ensure that there is equity and a level ground is created for every individual to have the equal share of health. Secondly emphasis should be put to encourage the input of every individual to ensure that everyone feels important in the health provision process. Further it should be advocated for the health sector to ensure that inequality is done with and equality prevails. 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