Introduction:
Pediatric health care is a very important part of medicine around the world. This is because boosting and maintaining the health of child and pediatric populations around the world overall increases the well-being of the upcoming adult generation. Children’s health begins from the day the child is formed in the mother’s womb, where many precautions are taken to prevent the child from infection by providing supplements essential for the baby’s growth and boosting the immunity levels both naturally and through medications. For this reason, the need for health education is high. A clear, well-aware social society can raise a well-nourished child, thus building a stronger society.
What Is Health Literacy?
Health literacy is the concept that offers the patient the ability to identify the health problem, understand the reason for the cause, and, with the help of this information, approach and achieve better healthcare. This enables the person to be aware of the situation and differentiate between the need for treatment and the treatment to be given at the right time. According to the theory of Ratzan and Parker (2000), health literacy is how the individual's capacity to intake, understand, and process basic health information enables them to understand the treatment needed and the ability to make the right decision. In simple terms, knowledge about health literacy helps the individual understand if the problem occurs due to physical or mental health and by approaching the concerned doctor to get it checked and treated. Although these things can be trivial, they are major in managing the patient at the right time, especially in critical clinical scenarios.
How Is Health Literacy Achieved?
This is often achieved primarily through communication, being updated with recently available health information, participating in healthcare discussions, having knowledge about one’s personal and family history, understanding and interpreting medical health-related charts, knowing about the utility and usage of health care instruments like thermometers, and having a good decision-making mindset.
What Is the Correlation between Pediatric Health and Health Literacy?
Knowledge and awareness of health, especially among parents of pediatric patients, is very important as it aids in their wellness and upbringing in a healthy environment. Be it aware of the conditions that could affect the child, following a healthy relationship and interactions between the parent and child, or tracking down the health and age-related milestones of the child, health literacy is very important. In many cases, the child's health is calculated based on the parental knowledge provided to the healthcare worker. On monitoring those parents who have very low knowledge about health or a low health literacy rate, it was seen that their children often showed very bad health complications and behavioral habits. Most parents who were well aware of health scenarios showed fewer health problems and a lower frequency of visits.
What Are the Ways to Improve Parental Health Literacy?
To improve the health and well-being of the child, it is necessary to educate the parents. Especially in places with lesser awareness, healthcare workers and the community need to spread awareness regarding children's health. Here, the rate of parental health literacy is achieved by the following methods:
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This Can Be Done as a Community Approach: First, understanding the field of work requires data about the population, the health status of the children, and the level of knowledge the parents have about the children’s health. So, in such a scenario, community participation to improve the overall health and well-being of the population is highly necessary and commendable. Group activities like running, jogging, and periodic health checkups promote healthy living.
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Spreading Awareness through Health Camps and Health Education: These medical awareness camps teach children and parents the need for health education. It teaches the population about the health conditions in children, how to manage them, and gives ideas for decision-making about healthcare situations. Health education is done by promoting health through lectures and healthcare demonstrations to the population, making them easier to understand.
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Health Literacy through Digital Platforms: Health education helps reach a very high population rate, especially captivating children and parents. Various sources do health literacy through digital platforms, like advertisements on radio, television, banners, posters, social media, applications, etc. Reaching out to people at home has become easier with the advancements in digital health mainly, where people can reach out to these platforms and get any online consultation or medical knowledge from the ease of their homes. Digital health applications and body trackers also help parents keep track of health habits like brushing techniques and bathing routines, as well as health routines like vaccination schedules.
What Are the Advantages of Health Literacy for Parents?
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Better knowledge of the health of the child. This is gained from all the awareness programs conducted in the community and schools, along with free immunization protocols followed by the government, making it easier to reach out to the parents.
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A child is raised with good physical and behavioral habits, enabling the child to thrive through the emotional and physical life hurdles.
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Properly periodic checkups and vaccination schedules.
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Enables the child to get timely healthcare in case of any emergency.
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Allowing the parents to identify the problem, prevent the cause, and reach the right specialist at the right time.
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Overall, a better physically and mentally healthy child leads to a better upcoming society.
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Increases the life expectancy of the people in the community.
Conclusion:
Improving the health literacy rate is very important, especially in children, and there is a need to monitor the health status of children in a particular society during a particular period. These data help the government curate health education programs for the community, increasing knowledge about child health and paving the way for well-managed child health. It is also important to set up necessary aids so parents can easily reach out in case of a healthcare need. Also, teaching children in school gives them a better way to manage themselves when away from home. So, health literacy and pediatric health go hand in hand and are ideal ways to uplift a healthy and mentally fit household and society from a very young age.
