Problems in this context may differ according to the individual’s health status, level of education, economic status, lifestyle and occupation, but, in general they can be addressed as follows :
- people should be given more information on toxic substances which are harmful to health so that they could avoid any contact or protect themselves more effectively ;
- at the onset of an illness, people should be adequately informed about basic self-care, the drugs that can be obtained without a prescription or data about available health service institution ;
- on admission to a health services institution, patients should be adequately informed about their illness and methods of self-care, this being essential particularly in cases of chronic diseases ;
- people who are interested in self-care and information on appropriate health behaviours should be given accurate knowledge and information on self-care and their motivation should be encouraged ;
- people should be warned against inaccurate information from advertisements for health products which may have a negative effect upon health or result in compulsive and unnecessary use or over-consumption ;
- people should be made aware of their basic human rights to protect themselves from inappropriate services or should take part in consumer protection movements ;
- people need to be told about the sources of essential health information which are often not made readily available by health care personnel and health service institutions.
Under the current economic and social structure, the problem concerning inadequate or inaccurate health information cannot be solved only by wider information dissemination. Other approaches, such as developing mechanisms to promote more extensive health information distribution, introducing measures for controlling inaccurate or misleading information and encouraging active participation of all related sectors and the mass media in health information dissemination, should be given due consideration.