Dr Dicky Ng

Health Literacy Health literacy is "The degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions ." (National Library of Medicine) Health literacy includes the ability to understand instructions on prescription drug bottles, appointment slips, medical education brochures, doctor's directions and consent forms, and the ability to negotiate complex health care systems. Health literacy is not simply the ability to read. It requires a complex group of reading, listening, analytical, and decision-making skills, and the ability to apply these skills to health situations. Healthcare professionals have an important role to play in ensuring that health literacy of a society improves as they continue to serve in that community.  This is a worthy cause I would like to commit myself into.  And I need all the help I can get.  Would you care to join in to support me? ...

Addiction (Lecture Notes) Addiction: An unhealthy relationship between a person and a mind altering substance or experience that renders the person unable to quit A disease of extreme.  Preoccupation to the point of avoiding reality or sidestep the challenges and responsibilities of everyday life Chemical dependencies: alcoholism, drugs, tobacco. Nonchemical dependencies: Process or activity addictions ie gambling, working, netsurfing, sex, eating  Characteristics n   The impulse to ignore the problem and hope that it will go away n   Rationalization :  creating logical explanations to explain one’s behavior. n   Preoccupation with the activity and a drivenness to engage in it.  In contrast, moderation and integration into real life mark a behavior as healthy n   Addicts are secretive about their activity and deceptive when discovered. n   The tendency to make a single substance, person or process one’s sol...