{"id":1057,"date":"2026-02-26T14:00:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T14:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/?p=1057"},"modified":"2026-03-06T17:52:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T17:52:55","slug":"take-control-of-your-healthcare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/take-control-of-your-healthcare\/","title":{"rendered":"Take Control of YOUR Healthcare"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-pale-cyan-blue-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-6a71abc750ff1be5f836a836f3c08586\" style=\"border-top-left-radius:40px;border-top-right-radius:40px;border-bottom-left-radius:40px;border-bottom-right-radius:40px;font-style:normal;font-weight:300\">Health literacy. What is it and how is this an issue? Start your journey by watching the TED talk below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Advocate for Your Health | Molly Hottle | TEDxTucson\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Grs5rS0q5nk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-pale-pink-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-00a226ea379a751b56c95dc306fe48fc\" style=\"border-top-left-radius:40px;border-top-right-radius:40px;border-bottom-left-radius:40px;border-bottom-right-radius:40px;font-style:normal;font-weight:300\">Health literacy is a huge problem in the world today, whether or not we realize it. As a pharmacy student who has spent lots of time studying this topic and figuring out how to overcome it, I realized patients aren&#8217;t getting the same education. A<mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-black-color\">ccording to the WHO, Health literacy is the ability to find, understand, and use information and services to make informed health-related decisions for oneself and others.<\/mark> <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Not understanding medical terms, procedures, and medications we are taking can create incomplete autonomy, medication mistakes\/misuse, and consent without really knowing what you are consenting to. <\/span><\/strong>Every patient deserves to completely understand what is going on in their healthcare, so I made it my mission to create a how-to guide to take control of your health for you to use at your next doctor&#8217;s visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-light-green-cyan-background-color has-background has-medium-font-size\" style=\"border-top-left-radius:40px;border-top-right-radius:40px;border-bottom-left-radius:40px;border-bottom-right-radius:40px;font-style:normal;font-weight:300\">Below is a pamphlet that has 6 tips on how to take control of your healthcare. Print it out or view it here, read through it, and use the back page as a checklist at your next doctor&#8217;s appointment or healthcare interaction!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div data-wp-interactive=\"core\/file\" class=\"wp-block-file\"><object data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!state.hasPdfPreview\" hidden class=\"wp-block-file__embed\" data=\"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/142\/2026\/02\/honors-499-project-brochure-1.pdf\" type=\"application\/pdf\" style=\"width:100%;height:600px\" aria-label=\"Embed of honors 499 project brochure (1).\"><\/object><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-9a61b61f-5335-4632-9b2f-8f24777ed562\" href=\"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/142\/2026\/02\/honors-499-project-brochure-1.pdf\">honors 499 project brochure (1)<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/142\/2026\/02\/honors-499-project-brochure-1.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-9a61b61f-5335-4632-9b2f-8f24777ed562\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-pale-cyan-blue-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-27ef1625850da9a5a64d0ef9498122bc\" style=\"border-top-left-radius:40px;border-top-right-radius:40px;border-bottom-left-radius:40px;border-bottom-right-radius:40px;font-style:normal;font-weight:300\">These ideas can be used in any healthcare setting, not just at a doctor&#8217;s visit. The most important thing is that patients learn to take matters into their own hands. Take action to start asking questions, set goals, and ensure the doctor is serving YOU. <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">You have a right to understand your healthcare, and to be in complete control even through the medical language barrier.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"border-top-left-radius:15px;border-top-right-radius:15px;border-bottom-left-radius:15px;border-bottom-right-radius:15px\">Sources:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c7 Ways to Advocate for Yourself at Health Appointments.\u201d <em>UnitedHealthcare<\/em>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uhc.com\/news-articles\/healthy-living\/7-ways-to-advocate-for-yourself-at-health-appointments\">https:\/\/www.uhc.com\/news-articles\/healthy-living\/7-ways-to-advocate-for-yourself-at-health-appointments<\/a>. Accessed 28 Feb. 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHealth Literacy.\u201d <em>World Health Organization<\/em>, 22 Dec. 2025, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/fact-sheets\/detail\/health-literacy\">https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/fact-sheets\/detail\/health-literacy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hottle, Molly. \u201cAdvocate For Your Health.\u201d <em>Youtube<\/em>, TEDx Talks, 6 Mar. 2017, https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Grs5rS0q5nk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Health literacy. What is it and how is this an issue? Start your journey by watching the TED talk below. Health literacy is a huge problem in the world today, whether or not we realize it. As a pharmacy student who has spent lots of time studying this topic and figuring out how to overcome it, I realized patients aren&#8217;t getting the same education. According to the WHO, Health literacy is the ability to find, understand, and use information and services to make informed health-related decisions for oneself and others. Not understanding medical terms, procedures, and medications we are taking can create incomplete autonomy, medication mistakes\/misuse, and consent without really knowing what you are consenting to. Every patient deserves to completely understand what is going on in their healthcare, so I made it my mission to create a how-to guide to take control of your health for you to use at your next doctor&#8217;s visit. Below is a pamphlet that has 6 tips on how to take control of your healthcare. Print it out or view it here, read through it, and use the back page as a checklist at your next doctor&#8217;s appointment or healthcare interaction! These ideas can be used in any healthcare setting, not just at a doctor&#8217;s visit. The most important thing is that patients learn to take matters into their own hands. Take action to start asking questions, set goals, and ensure the doctor is serving YOU. You have a right to understand your healthcare, and to be in complete control even through the medical language barrier. Sources: \u201c7 Ways to Advocate for Yourself at Health Appointments.\u201d UnitedHealthcare, https:\/\/www.uhc.com\/news-articles\/healthy-living\/7-ways-to-advocate-for-yourself-at-health-appointments. Accessed 28 Feb. 2026. \u201cHealth Literacy.\u201d World Health Organization, 22 Dec. 2025, https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/fact-sheets\/detail\/health-literacy. Hottle, Molly. \u201cAdvocate For Your Health.\u201d Youtube, TEDx Talks, 6 Mar. 2017, https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Grs5rS0q5nk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":859,"featured_media":1125,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sb_is_suggestion_mode":false,"_sb_show_suggestion_boards":false,"_sb_show_comment_boards":false,"_sb_suggestion_history":"","_sb_update_block_changes":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/142\/2026\/02\/honors-499-website-image.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/859"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1057"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1057\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1147,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1057\/revisions\/1147"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/rhetoric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}