Author Archives: admin

Say Ah!’s School of Health Literacy

Posted on

Say Ah! is kicking off National Health Literacy Month with a quick class to help you make better choices about your health and health care. The key to doing well in our class is practice! Use these tips again and again to improve your health literacy, which studies show can help you improve your health.

Top 11 Lessons for Health Literacy

1. Tell each of your doctors ALL of the medications you are taking

2. Bring a list of questions and concerns with you to your doctor’s appointment

3. Make sure you understand any instructions before leaving your doctor or pharmacists, such as how to take your medications correctly, how to use a new medical device (like an inhaler), how much you are supposed to “rest” etc

4. Ask questions when your doctor says something you don’t fully (or even remotely) understand!

5. Tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Your doctor needs to know as much as possible about your health, so go out of your way to answer questions correctly.

6. Tell your doctor costs are a concern, and tell your doctor what your insurance plan is.

7. Speak up when you are confused, and say “What??? I don’t understand. Can you explain that is simpler words. Or draw a picture. Or something!”

8. Always, always take notes. Never ever rely on your memory alone.

9. Trust your gut. If something — a diagnosis, a treatment, anything — feels wrong, let your doctor know. If your doctor does not listen to you, follow Tip #10.

10. Be the customer. Find another doctor is you are not getting the care you need.

11. Look around this site to learn more. And have a great day!

Say Ah! Launches New Site

Posted on

Say Ah! launches updated site to help patient make good health care choices.

What do teenagers, policy makers, and care providers all have in common? Say Ah!’s new website: www.say-ah.org.

Say Ah!’s comprehensive new site is the first of its kind to provide information and tools for all parties interested in improving a person’s ability to make good choices about his or her health.

Our site engages all stakeholders in the health care world, from administrators to outreach workers, and use low literacy design and writing principles to reach the broadest possible audience of patients and consumers, including those with low literacy and education levels, learning and reading differences, and vision impairments.


 

 

Say Ah! Newsletter December 2011

Posted on
In a year of extraordinary service, Say Ah! was able to conduct more than 25 free health literacy workshops thanks to donations from our supporters. These workshops provided hundreds of patients and caregivers with the much-needed skills to manage their health in today’s overwhelmingly complex health care system.
Other highlights include: training health care providers, community outreach workers and direct service professionals to identify and combat low health literacy;  disseminating more than 5,000 of Say Ah!’s Tips for Talking with Your Doctorhealth cards; translating Say Ah!’s patient empowerment materials into Spanish, Haitian Creole and Russian; and presenting our work at health literacy conferences in New York and California.
Please help us build on this great work by making a year-end tax-deductible donation. Click here to donate, and email us at info@justsayah.org for more ways to suport Say Ah! We appreciate your generosity and are deeply grateful for your support! Thank you!
Say Ah! Awarded Grant from NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn
Residents of Chelsea, Clinton, and the West Village are on track to become more health literate thanks to a grant awarded to Say Ah! by New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn to expand our programing in Council District 3.
“I am proud to support Say Ah!’s health literacy workshops for patients and caregivers in the 3rd Council District.  Say Ah!’s work helping people gain the skills needed to manage their health is an important step in improving the wellness of the community.” –  New York City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn
Building on last year’s work in District 3, Say Ah! will be leading lively workshops at area community centers, schools, and senior centers to help local residents learn the basic skils needed to get better, safer and more effective health care. These skills include: how to get the most out of a doctor’s visit, create and use a health history, understand studies, advocate for oneself or others in the health care system, and find reliable health information online.
Say Ah! is deeply grateful to the Speaker and her staff, the Department of Aging, and the people of District 3 for helping make these workshops happen.