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A Rare Family: Exploring Genetic Literacy In An Online Support Group, Heather H. Goltz, Sandra Acosta

Journal of Family Strengths

Healthy People 2020 and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) define health literacy as the “degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.” Essential components of health literacy include oral and print literacy, numeracy, and cultural and conceptual knowledge; the latter is influenced by sociodemographic factors and cultural understandings and approaches to concepts such as healthcare. Genetic literacy, a form of health literacy, may be defined as the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to individual understanding of genetic information, and genetic-based health, behavior, technology …