Columbia Memorial | Health Compass | Fall 2016

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H E A L T H L I T E R A C Y
Helping you understand your care
COLUMBIA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
2111 Exchange St.
Astoria, OR 97103
Nonprofit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Walla Walla, WA
Permit No. 44
Discover what Planetree means to you:
plain language and check back with
patients for understanding.
Stanford University gives these
tips to help you take an active role
in your medical visits. Remember,
“Take PART”:
Prepare by keeping track of your
symptoms between visits. Report
them to your provider. And list your
main concerns or questions at the
beginning of your visit.
Ask questions about your
diagnosis, tests, medications and
follow-up.
Repeat key points back to your
provider to make sure that you
understand. Taking notes
during your visit can help
you remember what you
talked about too.
Take action on your
provider’s recommendations,
or discuss with your
provider what barriers
prevent you from
following through.
Please don’t hesitate to
stop a caregiver and ask them
to repeat what they’ve said
or to say it in a different way.
Managing your health may not
always be easy, but it should be
understandable.
DO you struggle to understand or
apply the information you receive
from your health care providers?
You aren’t alone.
A national survey showed that
88 percent of U.S. adults do not have
the health literacy skills needed
to manage all the demands of the
current health care system.
Your health literacy is your ability
to find, use and understand
information about health
and services you need to
make health decisions.
Stress and illness can
affect the way we learn and
retain information. Let’s
face it—going to the doctor
or being in the hospital can
be stressful. It can be hard
to remember all the things
you’re supposed to do to
improve your health.
At CMH, we are
working to improve our
communication skills so
that we can help our patients
get the most out of their health
care services. We are trying to use
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