This chapter presents the overview of global health literacy, the advances issues of global health literacy, global health literacy and the internet utilization, global health literacy and disease management, and global health literacy and diabetes. Global health literacy is the important subject that is related to the individual's ability to understand and manage any healthcare issue. Global health literacy should be enhanced through healthcare providers and healthcare organizations. Global health literacy can help people prevent their health problems, protect their health, and manage their healthcare problems in a timely and effective manner. People who understand health instructions usually make fewer mistakes when taking medicine or preparing for the medical procedures toward the reduction of medical errors in global healthcare.
TopBackground
Health literacy is a growing concern as its relationship with health outcomes becomes clearer (Mackert, Ball, & Lopez, 2011). Health literacy is defined as a person's ability to act upon information about health (Nielsen-Bohlman, Panzer, & Kindig, 2004) and to effectively utilize such information to improve their health (Kaas, Stasková, & Šulistová, 2016). People with lower levels of health literacy create the higher emergency and health care costs (Mantwill & Schulz, 2015). Between one-third and one-half of all adults struggle with health information, and at-risk groups, such as the elderly, ethnic minorities, and those of lower socioeconomic status are more likely to have low health literacy (Nielsen-Bohlman et al., 2004).
Health literacy is recognized as a crucial element of patient safety (McCune, Lee, & Pohl, 2016). Along with increased awareness of health literacy, creation of strategies and initiatives, such as shared decision, plain language, and decision aides, have improved patient-centered approaches to facilitating the patients' ability to obtain and understand health information to the extent that they are able to affect a level of health autonomy (McNeil & Arena, 2017). By offering effective health information materials, older adults can play a more active role in their health care (Andrade, Silva, & Martins, 2017).