Health Literacy: Executive Wei-Li’s story

In the past, the healthcare world looked at health literacy issues in terms of individual patient deficits. That is, they saw the problem as the patient’s lack of knowledge and skills regarding health issues. We now recognize health literacy as a very dynamic systems issue. The problem here reflects the complexity of not just the health information being provided, but also the healthcare system being navigated. Addressing the challenge of these communication failures requires system-level changes—not just for professionals, but for whole organizations.

To spotlight the issue, we talk with Wei-Li Shao. Wei-Li has a background in both molecular biology and biochemistry and is a neuroscience sales executive. He’s also a cancer survivor with a very personal story to share as a patient.

Joining us in conversation is Linda Neuhauser, a researcher from UC Berkeley and an international leader in the fields of health communication and health literacy. Linda works intently on understanding health communication failures and what can be done to improve them.

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Gummy worms? Sprinkles? Health Literacy? Watch this health literacy video for the full story: http://elil.ly/bpl8

The way we talk to patients about our medicines is important. And over-complicating things just gets in the way of the message. Watch this health literacy video and you’ll get the picture: http://elil.ly/raha