Anne-Marie SCHOTT et Damien HOARAU
Iliade Study
Health literacy is a concept that has evolved significantly over the past few decades. Health literacy is not limited to the ability to read and write, but also includes the ability to access, understand and use health information and to interact with health professionals to best manage one's own health. Above all, it is not limited to the patient's personal abilities, but includes his or her environment (health care services, social support, etc.). A distinction is currently made between individual literacy and organizational literacy, which represents an institution's ability to take into account the level of literacy in its communication.
Among the consequences of a low level of health literacy are lower participation in screening and vaccination programs, poorer compliance with treatment, higher frequency and duration of hospitalization, higher frequency of co-morbidities and, overall, poorer health status and higher mortality. In patients with heart failure, the stakes of a well-monitored treatment are major in order to avoid emergency rehospitalization due to cardiac decompensation. The ILIADE study aims to improve the information delivered to patients with low health literacy level hospitalized for heart failure decompensation in order to improve their adherence to recommendations and in particular to drug treatments.
