A Vernon organization is helping people navigate the health-care system and understand their health information.
October is Health Literacy Awareness Month. Health literacy refers to how people understand information about health and health care, and how they apply the information to their lives and use it to make decisions.
Health literacy shapes people’s health outcomes and the safety and quality of their health care. According to Vernon’s John Rudy Health Resource Centre, more than 60 per cent of adults and 88 per cent of seniors report they do not have the skills and abilities to find and use health information and services.
The centre helps people find, understand and use health information every day at no cost. They offer one-on-one assistance when people need to navigate through the health care system, complete health-related forms and understand health information.
“We see value in sitting down with people to listen to their needs and support them in getting what they need. Dealing with a health crisis or a chronic issue is very stressful and people benefit from someone supporting them along the way and not just handing them another phone number to call,” said executive director Chantelle Fairbrother.
The John Rudy Health Resource Centre also offers educational health literacy programs on topics including chronic pain, support for stroke survivors and a six-week program called Get Health Smart. In this program, participants learn how to communicate with health care providers, how to make the most from appointments with doctors and how to be their own advocate.
The Get Health Smart program is funded by the New Horizons for Seniors Fund and is currently running in person at the Okanagan Regional Library and a new intakes for online-virtual sessions is now open with a start date in mid November. Contact the office to find out more or to register at 250-938-8092.
The centre’s mission is to improve the health and well-being of the community by meeting its health literacy need. Plans are in the works to add many more programs identified by the community, including grief workshops and support, planning for end of life, healthy living and caregiver support. In order to be able to launch these programs, the centre will be hosting an online auction from now until Nov. 18 to help raise funds.
The auction can be found at 32auctions.com/jrhrca.
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