Health Literacy Month: The Gap Between What Your Doctor Says and What You Can Actually Do
October is Health Literacy Month. If you’ve ever left a doctor’s appointment feeling more confused than when you walked in, this one’s for you.
Health literacy is defined as the ability to find, understand, and use health information to make decisions. And according to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy, only about 12% of American adults have proficient health literacy. That means roughly 88% of us across education levels, income brackets, and backgrounds, struggle to some degree with navigating modern healthcare.
This isn’t a niche problem. Low health literacy has been linked to higher rates of hospitalization, medication errors, and worse outcomes across virtually every chronic condition. Researchers estimate it costs the U.S. healthcare system well over $100 billion annually in preventable complications and avoidable care.
But here’s what often gets missed in that conversation: this is a systems problem, not a patient problem.
Healthcare communicates in a specialized language like clinical shorthand, medical jargon, dense discharge paperwork, and then hands that language to people who are already overwhelmed, often scared, and managing demanding lives. The expectation that patients will simply decode it on their own is one of the quiet failures of modern medicine.
Where Health Coaches Come In
Health coaches aren’t physicians, and that’s not the point. The point is that the space between what a doctor recommends and what a patient actually understands and can do is where a lot of health outcomes are won or lost. Health coaches are specifically trained to work in that space.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
Breaking down clinical language
Being told you have “hypertension with comorbid metabolic syndrome” means something different than “your blood pressure is high and your body is struggling to process sugar, and here’s what that means for your daily life.” Health coaches can help you break that down. Not to simplify, but to make it actionable.
The Teach-Back Method
One of the most effective tools in health coaching is deceptively simple: after explaining something, ask the client to explain it back. Not as a test, as a check. Misunderstandings surface before they become missed medications or skipped follow-ups. It’s a skill that sounds obvious but rarely happens in a standard 15-minute appointment.
Co-creating realistic action steps
There’s a significant difference between “you should exercise more and reduce sodium” and building a specific, realistic plan with someone based on their actual schedule, energy levels, living situation, and readiness to change. Health coaches do the latter. The goal isn’t compliance, it’s genuine comprehension and self-efficacy.
It’s Especially Relevant for Chronic Conditions
For anyone navigating MS, Lupus, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, or other neurological and autoimmune conditions, health literacy challenges can be compounded. These conditions often come with complex, evolving treatment plans that include multiple providers, and a steep learning curve, all while managing symptoms that affect just about everything.
A health coach doesn’t replace that medical team. But they can help a client show up to appointments better prepared, leave with greater clarity, and actually follow through between visits.
Health Literacy Month is a good time to ask this. Who in your care circle helps you understand what you’re dealing with and what to do about it?
About Joel Riciputi
Joel is an integrative health coach and educator at Rooted Rise Health, working with people navigating MS, Lupus, Parkinson's, and other neurological and autoimmune conditions, along with their care partners. He lives with MS himself and brings both lived experience and evidence-based coaching to his work. Joel is a National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) and a UC San Diego certified Health and Wellness coach.
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