Health Literacy Takeaway

          Over the course of this preparatory work, the two things that really stuck out to me were what exactly social determinants of health are and what health literacy is. Before this session I was unsure of what social determinants of health were. I was unaware that the range of social determinants is so broad and includes all the conditions where a person lives, worships, plays, learns, works, etc. and the resources available to a person/persons in all those specific places. I also did not realize the strong correlation between accessibility of resources and peoples' perceptions of the area in which they live. A person may have a more negative view of where they live, their health, and life if they do not have easy access to resources, whereas someone who has does have access might perceive all of these things much more positively.

          The other concept I was uninformed about was what exactly health literacy is. Health literacy in a nutshell is how we as humans perceive the basics of health and how we make appropriate decisions based on what we perceive. There are many different factors to consider when trying to understand a person's health literacy. These include communication skills, lay and professional knowledge of health topics, culture, demands of healthcare and public health symptoms, and demand of the situation. My knowledge base on both the topics of social determinants of health as well as health literacy has been broadened through the preparatory work completed, and I feel as though I have a better understanding now of how and why people make decisions related to their health.