What’ya Do When They Can’t Read?

Dr Erin Marcus has an essay in the New York Times outlining a case with a patient who pretty clearly can’t read, even though he won’t admit it. Unfortunately, his treatment suffers as a result, and the doctor sadly doesn’t offer much of a solution…

The Department of Education’s 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy estimates that 14 percent of adults in the United States, or 30 million people, have “below basic” prose literacy, meaning they generally cannot read and understand information in a short, simple text when tested. Twelve percent of adults demonstrate below basic “document skills,” meaning they generally cannot read and understand information in simple documents, including maps, when tested.
For us to take good care of these patients, we need to be given more time for office visits and more support from nurse educators, social workers and reading specialists. And our patients need a simpler, one-stop shopping approach to their health care, like easily accessible, comprehensive community clinics that perform – and get reimbursed fairly for – simple tests.
Otherwise, I worry that many people simply won’t be able to navigate the system, and more doctors will be left without the basic diagnostic information they need to provide good treatment.

The Dept. of Ed. stats almost certainly include those for whom English is not a first language, meaning multi-lingual staff would go a long way to pull those numbers down. The doctor’s solution falls into a broader issue of how healthcare is administered in this country, along with some of the socioeconomic factors that contribute to illiteracy. Essentially, there’s no solution unique to illiterate patients…
More from the New York Times…