Being a Health-Literate Consumer

Making Informed Choices

Main Idea: You can learn to make good consumer choices.

Are you a smart buyer? Do you try to get a good-quality product at a reasonable price when you shop? Being a smart shopper is especially important when it comes to making choices about health products and services. It’s up to you, as a health consumer-someone who purchases or uses health products or services-to make informed buying decisions. Probably the most important influence you need to be aware of as a consumer is advertising. Advertising is a written or spoken media message designed to interest consumers in purchasing a product or service. Although advertising can provide useful information, its primary purpose is to get you to buy the product.

Advertisers use various techniques and hidden messages to promote their products and services. Figure 2.11 shows some of these common techniques. Being a health literate consumer means being aware of these messages and knowing how to evaluate them.

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Evaluating Products

There are two effective ways to sharpen your consumer skills when buying health products: read product labels, and do some comparison shopping before you buy.

Product labels give you important information about what a product contains. Product labels carry the product’s name, its intended use, directions, warnings, manufacturer’s information, and the amount in the container. You will usually find the product’s ingredients listed by weight in descending order. The active ingredients are the most important: they’re the ones that make the product effective. By comparing the amount of active ingredients in different acne medications, for example, you can figure out which one contains more of the active ingredient, or whether a less expensive product contains the same active ingredient as a brand name product.

Comparison shopping A second great tool for smart health consumers is comparison shopping, or judging the benefits of different products by comparing several factors, such as quality, features, and cost. Here are some criteria you can use to judge health products and services:

• Cost and quality. Generic products may work the same as brand-name products. Compare the quality of lower- cost items, and look for products that meet your needs but cost less.

Features. Figure out which product features are most important to you so that you don’t waste money on features you don’t want.
Warranty. Many products come with a warranty, a company’s or a store’s written agreement to repair a product or refund your money if the product doesn’t function properly. Ask about warranties before buying expensive products, and read them carefully to make sure you understand what they cover.
Safety. When you are evaluating sports, recreation, and home-safety products, look for logos from well-known, reputable organizations that show the product has been tested for safety. For example, the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) tests and certifies products such as electrical appliances and fire extinguishers. Snell, a nonprofit foundation, and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) monitor safety standards for helmets and other protective equipment.
Recommendations. Listen to the opinions of people you trust who have used the product or service that you are considering. Also, check the consumer product ratings from organizations such as Consumers Union.

Evaluating Information and Services

To evaluate health information or services, ask yourself these questions:

• Does this information come from a valid source? Does the service come from a respected provider?

• If the source is a Web site, who pays for the site? Is it a reputable organization? What is the purpose of the site?

Keep in mind that your doctor, nurse, and pharmacist are also great sources for reliable health care information.