Saskatchewan Blue Cross says 76 per cent of residents in this province overestimate their level of health literacy, which can lead to serious health consequences.
President and CEO, Kelly Wilson, says overall, respondents reported confidence in their ability to maintain and support their health and those in their care, but questions about specific healthcare experiences revealed that some had overstated their health literacy.
She describes health literacy as the degree to which people can obtain, communicate, process, understand and act upon basic health information and services needed to make health decisions.
Leading barriers include a lack of familiarity with the healthcare system and what resources are available and a lack of access to relevant and credible health information,
Wilson says people with lower levels of health literacy are less confident in their ability to know when they need to seek help for the health.