Ask Me 3

Nearly half of all American adults, 90 million people, have difficulty understanding and using health information that they are given (Partnership for Clear Health Communication, 2007). You may be thinking, “Why is this an important statistic?” and the reason this is such an important statistic is because health literacy skills – the ability to read, understand and effectively use basic medical instructions and information – are linked with an individual’s health status (Partnership for Clear Health Communication, 2007); which means that the lower your health literacy skills are, the more likely you are to become sick or have lower than average health. This is why clear communication between patients and health care providers is essential (Partnership for Clear Health Communication, 2007). The better the communication between the health care provider and their patients, the more likely it is that the patient will have a better understanding of what their health problems are and why they need to follow their physician’s advice, and in turn can be one step closer to becoming a healthier person. The Ask Me 3 program is designed to do just that - to help patients increase their health literacy and, as a result, also raise their health.

The Ask Me 3 program is centered on three important universal questions that were developed to help increase health literacy. These three questions are: “What is my main problem?,” “What do I need to do?,” and “Why is it important for me to do this?” (Partnership for Clear Health Communication, 2007). These questions should be asked when you are seeing any of your health care providers or pharmacists, when you are preparing yourself for a medical test or procedure and when you are picking up your medicine so you will be a more informed consumer of your healthcare (Partnership for Clear Health Communication, 2007). There are many important advantages to asking these questions, such as keeping you safe when you are taking your medication once you get home, helping you understand how to get better and being to better understand what procedures may be performed on you (Partnership for Clear Health Communication, 2007). You may also be able to spend less money on healthcare by making fewer trips to your healthcare provider because you already had your main questions answered during your first visit instead of during consequential visits.

An important factor to remember when asking these questions is that your doctor wants to answer your questions and wants you to become more knowledgeable about any conditions in which you may have (Partnership for Clear Health Communication, 2007). This means that you do not have to worry about taking extra time to ask these questions. Your health care provider or pharmacist would much rather prefer taking a few extra minutes to help you understand the issues relating to your health than to have you leave confused and uninformed. This is also the same for if your health care provider has answered your questions, but you are still confused (Partnership for Clear Health Communication, 2007). Just ask your health provider again until you understand! Again, do not worry about taking up their time, worry more about getting your questions answered. If you are uncomfortable asking them again, the Ask Me 3 website gives a suggestion - "This is new to me. Will you please explain that to me one more time?" (Partnership for Clear Health Communication, 2007).

The Ask Me 3 questions are not the only important questions to ask your health care provider or your pharmacist. It is also important that any other questions that you have thought of on your own are answered. Whenever you think of these questions outside of your health care provider’s office, make sure you write them down so you won’t forget to ask them at a later time. You could then also ask these questions in addition to the Ask Me 3 questions or could even call and ask the office before your next appointment. Again, never be nervous to ask your health care provider or pharmacist questions. They want you to let them know when you have questions or don’t understand something.

The next time you visit our health care provider, remember to ask them 3 questions so you can be one step closer to caring for yourself better. For more information and other helpful hints towards increasing your health literacy, please visit the Ask Me 3 website at: http://www.npsf.org/askme3/for_patients.php (Partnership for Clear Health Communication, 2007).





References
Partnership for Clear Health Communication. (2007). Ask Me 3. Retrieved from http://www.npsf.org/askme3/