Health skills: Beyond the biomedical
How knowledge, skills and attributes improve the effectiveness of health results and health literacy
Dealing effectively with human relationships (Moscovici, 1981), through adaptation to situational needs and demands (Wiemann, 1977, p. 17). This is a permanent challenge, above all, and nowadays, and particularly in the health area, it requires a herculean effort from health professionals.
In this context, competence is an important factor in the way individuals help to shape the world and not just how they deal with it (OECD, 2005, p. 5).
And in the health area, it is the competencies that allow the effectiveness of health results.
We’re all patient – Rights and duties
We’re all patient. Sooner or later. Because being patient doesn’t mean being sick.
In the life cycle, and so even before our birth, when we are growing up in our mother’s belly, she was probably followed from the beginning of her family planning consultation, went through a series of routine consultations, ultrasounds or measurements and evaluations, until birth. And then, we officially go our way in health, as patients.
We’re like this, all patient, sooner or later.
Changing health behaviors: how to reach the patient-system by being “etic”
The evidence shows that different patterns of behavior are deeply rooted in the social and material aspects of people, as well as in their circumstances and cultural context (NICE, 2007, p. 6), economic, political (WHO, 2019).
Human beings are cultural beings, with an enormous capacity to survive adversity, who repeat behaviors often influenced by the behaviors of others (modeling) (Bandura, 1963, 1986). Social and economic contexts influence the degree of access, understanding and use of health services (Espanha, Ávila & Mendes, 2016).
In their experience, and among the behaviors that lead to various performances, the beliefs of individuals have an important role in their action for change. Beliefs are a potential of two ways, which act positively for change, when for example an individual believes that only Y food can improve health, or instead, beliefs serve as resistance and constraints preventing change, such as believing that only human faith cures the contamination of a virus, or that children’s urine is curative for some skin diseases (situations reported by several health professionals).
Investing in literate organizations beyond health: a path to health literacy
The evidence highlights the importance of reflecting on “literate organizations” (Brach et al., 2012) both in the health and social areas (and eventually others) with strong repercussions in increasing the level of literacy in health of individuals already well characterized by this low LS: elderly, people with socioeconomic deprivation, migrants (Sorensen et al., 2012), people with long-term and chronic illnesses, young people (Svendsen and others, 2020), long-term unemployed (Espanha and others, 2016).
Health literacy has always been associated with health domains, although it has started to be addressed in the area of education (Simonds, 1974).
Health Literacy uses inclusive language
Having health literacy means that those who communicate must reinforce the correct access, understanding and use of health information, trough the encoding/decoding process (Hall, 1980) with the responsibility to promote inclusive, formal and informal communication. Literate organizations are also responsible for preparing teams to know how to give the correct access, understanding and use of their services (Brach et al., 2012).
