When dealing with important information that can change your life and well-being, understanding difficult language is important. Here are steps to help learn and understand difficult terminology (words) or concepts (ideas) related to your health or other important areas of your life:
- Break It Down: Divide the difficult information into smaller, more easy to understand parts. Focus on understanding one piece at a time. If you come across a term, word, or idea you don’t know, look it up or ask a professional to clarify it for you.
- Ask Questions: Don’t hold back from asking someone to clarify. If you’re speaking with a healthcare provider or an expert, ask them to explain (describe in detail) in simpler terms, words, or ideas and also ask them to provide examples to show hard to understand ideas.
- Use Different Sources: Access information from more than one place. Sometimes different descriptions of the same word or idea can help clarify things for you. Books, websites with a good reputation, and educational videos can offer different points-of-view.
- Visual Aids: Many hard to understand concepts can be described visually. Taking information in through your eyes may help you to see and picture a word or idea. Ask for diagrams, charts, or pictures that break down the information. Visual aids often make understanding easier.
- Find Something Similar or Compare: Relate hard to understand information to something close to you. These are called analogies or comparisons. Relating something to everyday things can make hard to understand words, terms, and concepts more relatable and understandable.
- Take Your Time: Rushing through difficult information can make it even more confusing and maybe even feel like a heavy load. Take your time, re-read, and review until you catch the main points.
- Discuss with Others: Talk in discussions with friends, family, or support groups. Describing what you’ve learned in your own words can make your understanding stronger, and others might offer tips.
- Seek Trusted Help: If the information is very important to your health or life, consult with someone you can trust and who can provide a more deeper understanding to your specific needs. This might not always be your healthcare provider as they may be biased towards you taking drug medication.
- Take Notes: Writing down key points or creating summaries can help strengthen your understanding and offer a reference for later review. Keep track of what words, terms, and ideas for treatment plans and drug medications you are told about. Take notes about your disease or what type of illnesses you have be told you have. Have a pen and paper when learning.
- Advocate (Speak up) for Yourself: Don’t be afraid to speak up for yourself. If you need a simpler explanations or additional places to go to understand if you’re struggling to understand crucial information.
Remember, understanding complex language and hard to understand ideas takes time and effort. Don’t be feel bad by how hard it is—work to get over the struggle and seeking help when needed are important in truly understanding drug medication information that impacts your life and well-being.
Let me know if you have a hard time trying to understand your medication in simple terms.