Our clients or patients have diverse backgrounds, various levels of education or literacy, and they may prefer to speak a different language. These issues can become barriers for them to understand health information and benefit from the therapy. You cannot judge someone's literacy level just by looking at the client. A person may present themselves well, speak well, and appear to understand what is going on, however this does not always mean that this truly is the case.

It is recommendable to approach clients with the understanding that even those who are well-educated may still struggle with health-related information. The language used in the health field is not commonly used in everyday language and even those with good educational backgrounds may not understand what their diagnosis means or what is being asked of them.

Even someone who normally manages health information well, may have increased difficulty under certain circumstances. When a person is feeling anxious, or overwhelmed with too much information, they may not be able to understand or use health information in a correct way.

At the end of the day, it is best to use simple, understandable language to avoid any opportunity for misunderstanding.