October is Health Literacy Month! The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines personal health literacy as "the degree to which individuals can obtain, process, and understand the basic health information and services they need to make appropriate health decisions." Up until college, most of our parents/guardians were responsible for scheduling doctors appointments, handling health insurance, or even talking to doctors on our behalf.  Maybe you have lived with a health condition that required very specific treatment plans, and now you are responsible for managing it with limited help from your parents/guardians. It may seem like a lot to manage on your own, but trust me, it will get easier the more you do it. 

Health literacy helps us to understand how we can better use health resources and how to take the best care of ourselves. Unfortunately, individuals with limited health literacy are more likely to:

• Visit the emergency room

• Have more frequent and longer hospital stays

• Experience poor overall health

• Encounter difficulty managing their health conditions and medications

• Pay higher medical costs

Understanding your health and how to use health services may be challenging at times, so here are a few tips to help you enhance your health literacy:

• Prepare a list of questions before your doctor's visit. Things may move fast during your appointment, so having a list of questions prepared ahead of time will help you to use the time efficiently. 

• Don't be afraid to ask your doctor to explain things to you at a slower pace or even multiple times. 

• If you are being prescribed a new medication, ask your doctor and the pharmacist to review instructions so you can manage your medication properly. 

• Review your health insurance benefits before you schedule appointments so that you know what health services are covered and if your provider is in your health insurance network. If you need help understanding health insurance lingo, check out this resource. 

• As UMBC students, you are required to have health insurance. If you have signed up for the Aetna Student Health plan, here is some helpful information about your benefits. 

On UMBC's campus, Retriever Integrated Health provides a range of health services including primary care, gynecological care, acupuncture, massage therapy, STI screenings, pharmacy services, and more! Call (410) 455-2542 to schedule an appointment Monday-Friday from 8:30AM-5:00PM. Be sure to bring your ID and health insurance card when you visit. 

On Instagram @umbcohp and Twitter @UMBCOHP , we are sharing tips to improve your health literacy so that you can make the best decisions for your health!  Follow us on to learn more.