Do you know how to determine the state of your personal health? Are you one of the 80 million Americans who don't understand how to use the resources available to you? As studies show, those who lack health literacy are more likely to experience greater emergency hospitalizations, larger medical bills, and errors in the medications you are given. . Health literacy was first used in 1974 by k. Simonds, he wrote an article on the subject for K-12. Goals on the importance of knowing how to determine your health and keeping it up to date, even though the doors are opening and people are slowly starting to think about the article written, it's not until years later that It's slowly starting to be a need rather than a want. Over time, very few people, including the government, began to analyze the importance of health literacy. But it wasn't until 1999 that the American Medical Association's Council on Scientific Affairs officially recognized and defined functional health literacy as "the ability to read and understand prescription bottles." , appointment slips, and other essential health-related documents needed to function successfully as a patient. » THESIS Health literacy studies show that many Americans with health care needs have few skills in understanding the information needed to navigate and function in the U.S. health care system. This research paper defines health literacy as an important policy issue and offers strategies for creating a better health literate America. But the problem persists and many people don't pay enough attention to understand how it all works. Having to rely on your doctors or hospitals still remains a lack of knowledge that could save many people a trip. If we know what the cause of her health is, she is already aware... middle of paper...... they did it. They pay homage to what has been granted to them, as is said in the comments of the book "A Century of Wisdom" which features the oldest living survivor of the holocaust, the same comment made by these phenomenal people who have exceeded the limits of age of a normal human being. be. Live stress free, live happily, don't let anything worry you. So, as important as health literacy is to us, to those who don't share this idea, it has no valuePARAGRAPH 4Works Citedhttp://eds.a.ebscohost.com.db16.linccweb.org/ehost /pdfviewer/pdfviewer? sid=9ed385dc-f9d7-4d03-89f2-932d44d5d8f5%40sessionmgr4003&vid=2&hid=4111http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.db16.linccweb.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=1d225c6a-23d9-4acf-b505- 14e4826503ab%40sessionmgr4005&vid=2&hid=4111http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/10.1086/667438.pdf?&acceptTC=true&jpdConfirm=true