Various researchers have noted that, inadequate medication adherence and dosing errors were observed among informal adult caregivers with marginal health literacy skills. Since people living with HIV are likely to show strong reliance on the support and counselling of informal caregivers, this finding is crucial, even though still little is known about this issue among both researchers and healthcare practitioners. On the one hand, the scientific literature seems to overlook the effects of informal caregivers’ limited health literacy on the health status of the patient, mainly focusing on specific concerns such as caregivers’ adherence to medications. Alternatively, the information needs of informal caregivers living with poor health literacy are widely neglected by healthcare providers, therefore, undermining their ability to properly navigate the healthcare system. Individual Beliefs and Health Literacy in Adherence to Treatment The precise pathways by which health literacy may affect patient behavior and health outcomes are not entirely clear (Paasche-Orlow, Cheng, Palepu, Meli, Faber, & Somet, 2006).
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Cultural beliefs surrounding illness and low health literacy are considered significant to patient understanding and application of health. It has been increasingly documented that inadequate health literacy must be viewed in the broader context of individual factors, language and culture (IOM, 2009), and studies in adults are beginning to explore this relationship. Negative beliefs about medications among patients with chronic illness have been shown to influence patterns of medication adherence, as there were a 2.1 greater odds (95 % CI, 1.3-3.7) of lower medication adherence in patients with higher negative beliefs scores, in comparison to those with lower scores (Gatti, Jacobson, Gazmararian, Schmotzer, & Kripalani, 2009). In HIV-infected adults, mistaken beliefs about HIV-medications were not found to be a mediator of the health literacy adherence relationship (Graham, Bennett, Holmes, & Gross, 2007). Insufficient levels of health literacy have a strong association with socioeconomic factors such as levels of education, race or ethnicity, and age (Paasche-Orlow & Wolf, 2007). Hence, individuals belonging to subordinated groups or ethnic backgrounds who may have limitations associated with their formal education, including limited literacy levels, and cultural and linguistic barriers often have difficulty comprehending and adhering to written health care information (Corbie-Smith, Thomas, Williams, & Moody-Ayers,1999). Discussion This study’s purposes are to explain the association of predisposing, reinforcing, and enabling factors that are related to one’s level of education and health literacy which may lead to better or worse understanding of and implementation of treatment recommendations and adherence. Further research is needed to explain the determinants of adherence to ensure that patients stay with their prescribed medical regimen. In addition, doctors, nurses and other health care providers play an indispensable role in determining if patients are sufficiently educated in the prescribed regimens and are effectively monitored to achieve the desired beneficial response. Medical interventions that comprise of a combination of pictograms with written and verbal communications to encourage the patient how to carry out medically allied recommendations and improve health outcomes. Inadequate level of education and health literacy has been regularly depicted as the social barrier to accessing health care, opening the way for greater illness severity and impaired health conditions. As described, poor health literacy and one’s level of education are concerned with understanding not only the causes of health come, but also the implications for interventions. In fact, inadequate health literacy patients living with HIV infection are expected to show deficient knowledge of their health status, which in turn produces low compliance with clinical prescriptions, inadequate treatment awareness, and poor medication adherence. Furthermore, poor level of education and health literacy patients are likely to demonstrate difficulty understanding health information, to develop exacerbation of their health condition, and to show greater number of hospitalization as compared with their higher level of education and health literate counterparts. Researchers illustrated that the most commonly measurement used for health literacy are the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM) and the Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (S-TOFHLA) (Berkman, Davis, McCormack, 2010; Loke, Hinz, Wang, & Salter, 2010). Both tools of measurement have been disparaged for not adequately covering the range of competencies required for adequate health literacy. Following the initial measurement tools for health literacy, Daniels and colleagues (2011) noted that immeasurable
Cultural beliefs surrounding illness and low health literacy are considered significant to patient understanding and application of health. It has been increasingly documented that inadequate health literacy must be viewed in the broader context of individual factors, language and culture (IOM, 2009), and studies in adults are beginning to explore this relationship. Negative beliefs about medications among patients with chronic illness have been shown to influence patterns of medication adherence, as there were a 2.1 greater odds (95 % CI, 1.3-3.7) of lower medication adherence in patients with higher negative beliefs scores, in comparison to those with lower scores (Gatti, Jacobson, Gazmararian, Schmotzer, & Kripalani, 2009). In HIV-infected adults, mistaken beliefs about HIV-medications were not found to be a mediator of the health literacy adherence relationship (Graham, Bennett, Holmes, & Gross, 2007). Insufficient levels of health literacy have a strong association with socioeconomic factors such as levels of education, race or ethnicity, and age (Paasche-Orlow & Wolf, 2007). Hence, individuals belonging to subordinated groups or ethnic backgrounds who may have limitations associated with their formal education, including limited literacy levels, and cultural and linguistic barriers often have difficulty comprehending and adhering to written health care information (Corbie-Smith, Thomas, Williams, & Moody-Ayers,1999). Discussion This study’s purposes are to explain the association of predisposing, reinforcing, and enabling factors that are related to one’s level of education and health literacy which may lead to better or worse understanding of and implementation of treatment recommendations and adherence. Further research is needed to explain the determinants of adherence to ensure that patients stay with their prescribed medical regimen. In addition, doctors, nurses and other health care providers play an indispensable role in determining if patients are sufficiently educated in the prescribed regimens and are effectively monitored to achieve the desired beneficial response. Medical interventions that comprise of a combination of pictograms with written and verbal communications to encourage the patient how to carry out medically allied recommendations and improve health outcomes. Inadequate level of education and health literacy has been regularly depicted as the social barrier to accessing health care, opening the way for greater illness severity and impaired health conditions. As described, poor health literacy and one’s level of education are concerned with understanding not only the causes of health come, but also the implications for interventions. In fact, inadequate health literacy patients living with HIV infection are expected to show deficient knowledge of their health status, which in turn produces low compliance with clinical prescriptions, inadequate treatment awareness, and poor medication adherence. Furthermore, poor level of education and health literacy patients are likely to demonstrate difficulty understanding health information, to develop exacerbation of their health condition, and to show greater number of hospitalization as compared with their higher level of education and health literate counterparts. Researchers illustrated that the most commonly measurement used for health literacy are the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM) and the Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (S-TOFHLA) (Berkman, Davis, McCormack, 2010; Loke, Hinz, Wang, & Salter, 2010). Both tools of measurement have been disparaged for not adequately covering the range of competencies required for adequate health literacy. Following the initial measurement tools for health literacy, Daniels and colleagues (2011) noted that immeasurable