Social work in health care
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Soc Work Health Care · Jan 2015
ReviewLow health literacy and older adults: meanings, problems, and recommendations for social work.
Many older adults struggle to manage their health care problems. Low health literacy exacerbates such struggles and contributes to a variety of adverse health behaviors and outcomes. Addressing how health literacy impinges on the lives of older adults is a neglected area of social work practice and knowledge. This article explores seven areas: defining health literacy, the problem and prevalence of low health literacy among older adults, health inequalities and health literacy, a brief literature review, neglected issues in the literature, suggestions for macro and micro social work interventions to improve health literacy for older adult populations, and conclusion.