He tells me the nurse will explain the rest, and she tries to do the best she can. But I rely mostly on my pharmacist now, even if I take an aspirin, because I'm taking all these other medicines. Gaspar's medical experience isn't all that uncommon, health experts say. They say many patients walk out of doctors' offices feeling confused or vague about medical directions or papers they've received, or medicines they've been prescribed. Years ago, you wouldn't have lived to take all these complex regimens.
Patients now have more responsibility.
A generation ago, if you had a heart attack, they'd put you to bed afterward and give you aspirin. Davis is professor of Medicine and Pediatrics and head of the Behavioral Science Unit of the Center for Excellence in Cancer Research, Treatment and Prevention in Louisiana State University Medical Center in Shreveport. The gap in health care knowledge is even greater when a patient has low literacy skills to start. The Center for Health Care Strategies, Inc., and the National Academy on an Aging Society reports that many elderly, who tend to have fewer years of schooling than younger adults, are among the 90 million Americans who have either inadequate or marginal literacy skills. The elderly also tend to have perceptual problems, such as low vision or poor hearing, which can also impede their understanding.