Health Literacy

Abstract

Caregivers require the skills needed to support complex medical conditions and utilize opportunities to access, understand, and share reliable health information with care recipients to advocate for successful disease management and decisions. This chapter addresses the unique characteristics of caregiver health literacy and the burden of navigating increasingly complex healthcare systems. The connection and consequence between health literacy and social determinants of health upon caregiving, the implications of caregiver health literacy skills, and the influence of culturally and linguistically appropriate standards on enhanced caregiver health literacy, clear communication, and family-centered care are discussed. Health literacy involves not only caregivers’ and patients’ cognitive and functional skills, but also the collaborative efforts among patients, caregivers, healthcare organizations, healthcare providers, and communities. This collaborative view of health literacy underscores the synergy among healthcare recipients, formal and informal healthcare providers, and resources from healthcare systems to reduce health literacy barriers, ease communication burden, and lessen inequities in health.