Do you know the meaning of sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia? — a common malady in Falmouth during the summer!

Managing our health is an important part of everyday life, especially as we age and are faced with more frequent medical concerns and questions, making it important to be health literate. The Affordable Care Act of 2010 (Obamacare) defined health literacy as “the degree to which an individual has the capacity to obtain, communicate, process, and understand basic health information and services to make appropriate health decisions.”

Health literacy isn’t just about reading health materials. It’s about knowing how to find the right information, understanding what it means, and using it to make smart choices about managing your health. People with good health literacy are more likely to follow medical advice, take preventive actions like getting vaccines, and manage chronic illnesses such as diabetes or high blood pressure more effectively.

On the other hand, people with low health literacy often struggle to navigate the healthcare system, understand and manage their health conditions, and take the right steps to stay healthy. This can lead to poor health outcomes, including more frequent hospital and ER visits, serious complications from untreated health issues and even a shortened life span.

Four Types of Health Literacy

Personal health literacy is the degree to which you are able to find, understand, and use information and services to make health-related decisions and actions for yourself and others. Examples include understanding prescription drug instructions, understanding your healthcare provider’s directions and explanation of your condition, and the ability to navigate the complex healthcare system.

Margo is overweight and has high cholesterol. Her doctor advised her to follow a diet low in saturated fat, but she does not know how to read food labels properly. She continues to eat highly processed foods, thinking they are safe because they are labeled as "low cholesterol." This leads to her cholesterol levels remaining high, putting her at greater risk for heart disease.

Organizational health literacy is the degree to which organizations (such as your doctor’s office, hospital, pharmacy, community health center) enable you to find, understand, and use information and services to make health-related decisions and actions for yourself and others. Examples include making it easier to schedule appointments, describing medical issues in easy to understand words and avoid using medical jargon, and providing communications in the appropriate language, reading level and format.

Maria recently moved to Falmouth from Brazil and has been diagnosed with diabetes. Although she does not speak English her doctor’s office used Google Translate to explain her condition. She understood that she needed to take medication, check her blood sugar, exercise more and eat properly. However, she was given a healthy diet based on American eating habits and not consistent with her Brazilian customs and she struggled to comply.

Digital health literacy is the ability to search for, find, understand, and evaluate health information from electronic sources and use that knowledge to help understand or solve a health problem. Examples include accessing your electronic health record, communicating electronically with your health care team, ability to find reliable online health information, and using health and wellness apps.

David searched online for information about his child’s fever. He found a website recommending herbal remedies and advises against vaccinations. Trusting the information, he delayed taking his son to the doctor and refused vaccines. The fever turned out to be a sign of a serious infection that worsened due to delayed treatment. Additionally, his son is not protected against preventable diseases because of the misinformation.

Numeracy is the ability to understand and work with numbers to manage your health. Examples include understanding nutrition information on a food label, interpreting blood sugar readings, taking the correct dosage of medication, evaluating treatment benefits and risks, and understanding insurance costs and coverage.

Allison has poorly controlled diabetes and received a prescription for insulin. The label reads, "Take 10 units twice daily." She interpreted this as taking 20 units at once rather than splitting the dose. This mistake caused her to experience dangerously low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), requiring emergency care.

Common Barriers to Health Literacy

According to the National Library of Medicine, “Nearly 9 out of 10 adults struggle with health literacy. Even people with high literacy skills may have low health literacy skills in certain situations. For example, someone who is stressed and sick when they’re accessing health information may have trouble remembering, understanding, and using that information.”

Several factors make it hard for some of us to understand health information and make informed decisions, including:

• Low Education Levels: People with less education may struggle to understand health terms or instructions.

• Language Differences**: People who don’t speak the local language may find it challenging to understand medical advice or paperwork, leading to confusion and mistakes in their care.

• Complicated Health Information: Medical language is often full of jargon and complex terms that even many educated individuals may find difficult to grasp.

• Lack of Access to Technology: With more health information available online, people without internet access or digital skills miss out on important resources.

• Misinformation: The internet is full of misleading or incorrect health information, which can make it hard for some of us to know what’s true or safe.

And, Sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia is the feeling you get from an ice cream headache!