Helping with Health Reading Answers

May 7, 2025

Helping with Health is an IELTS Reading Answer that contains 13 questions and needs to be completed within 20 minutes. This reading answer also helps you to prepare for your IELTS exam. Helping with Health consists of questions like: Write no more than two words, Choose the correct response, and Choose the correct heading. Participants should go through the IELTS Reading passage to recognize synonyms, identify keywords, and answer the questions. Also, Helping with Health Reading Answers gives all the information about how you can keep your health fine. Candidates can use IELTS reading practice questions and answers to enhance their performance in the reading section.

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Topic:

Helping with Health

A. Having medical treatment and going to hospital can be bewildering, even frightening. Here we review some of the ways administrators, medics and adult patients can make the experience both more comfortable and more effective.

All the good work health professionals put into treatments can be undone if their patients don't understand instructions and procedures. It is estimated that up to half of US adults have trouble interpreting medical information. Poor medical understanding has been described as a 'hidden epidemic', meaning conditions remain untreated or get worse. The elderly (those over 75), or those with poor levels of general literacy, are most likely to be unable to understand medical diagnoses and advice, drug dosages and regimes, how to operate medical equipment, or implement healthier lifestyles.

B. Simplification is the key. This can be achieved by decreasing the complexity of healthcare systems and using clear, unambiguous language in official forms and letters. Medics need to explain conditions and procedures in layman's terms and utilize visual aids whenever possible. Helping patients recognise signs or symptoms, such as those of an impending heart attack, may be vital in keeping them alive.

Asking patients to repeat or explain symptoms, actions or medication routines in their own words is a way to check understanding. Involving patients family members in their treatment can also be of great help.

C. Making sure a patient knows and understands what's going to happen to them is important in reducing anxiety. Being faced with a needle is a good example. In a survey, over three-quarters of patients said they preferred being given a warning than none at all. The exception were elderly patients who preferred to be distracted by conversation before being jabbed. A fear of needles in a medical setting, Trypanophobia, affects at least ten per cent of patients and can lead to panic attacks or fainting due to a rapid fall in blood pressure. Medics can help by giving patients breathing exercises to help them relax or muscle tensioning routines to increase blood pressure.

D. Complex surgical procedures need more explanation and more empathy. Patients may not want to know the gory details about what will happen to their bodies while under anaesthetic but will want to know the reasons and, most importantly, the benefits of surgery. The aftereffects and follow-up procedures also need to be carefully explained. Under the umbrella term of therapeutic communication', this includes, most importantly, medics being silent and listening compassionately to patients, demonstrating acceptance of their concerns, and allowing patients to lead conversations by asking open-ended questions.

E. For those facing procedures on their own, many hospitals now provide volunteer chaperones. The presence of a sympathetic companion can do a lot to alleviate anxiety. Most hospitals now also have non-denorninational religious staff members who can provide spiritual support, which has been shown to be related to better health outcomes. For sensitive procedures, medical centres can offer a professional chaperone. In these cases, the chaperone is a medically trained individual who can assist patients and make sure sensitive exams and procedures are done in a safe, comfortable, and professional way. These professionals can help protect patient dignity and also prevent any misunderstanding between a patient and their clinician.

F. A recent report by Britain's National Health Service (NHS) acknowledged that 'language barriers in the health care setting can lead to problems such as delay or denial of services, issues with medication management, and underutilisation of preventive services'. The latest UK census showed that eight per cent of the population's main language was not English and, of these, almost three-quarters of a million could not speak English well, while approximately 140,000 could not speak it at all. In the States, sixty-six million people, or over a fifth of its population, speak a language other than English at home. The need for translated documents and hospital interpreters is clear. The NHS offers its information in at least eleven different languages, including on its '111' telephone helplines. It also has registered interpreters available for one-hundred-and-twenty different languages.

G. For patients to get the most out of their visit to a healthcare worker, it's best that they go prepared. Time is valuable, so keeping to the point is important. With symptoms, such as a pain, patients must come prepared with specific descriptions. There are four things to mention: where the pain is, its frequency (for example, every morning or after meals), its duration (how long - seconds or hours), and how it feels (sharp like a knife or dull, like a mild toothache). It's important that the patient is honest in consultations, admitting to lifestyle choices that may cause them embarrassment, remembering that medical professionals are not judgemental. Lastly, patients should make sure they understand instructions and advice, and shouldn't be reticent in asking questions or asking for things to be repeated. Everybody wins when the barriers to efficient and effective medical treatment are broken down. It's estimated that diagnostic errors and incorrect medication contribute to the death or disability of up to 160,000 patients in the US every year. Forging strong, understanding, and trusting bonds between patients and medical professionals will help both the health of individuals and the long-term health of nations.

Questions 28-33

The text, 'Helping with Health, has eight sections, A-G. Choose the correct heading for each section from the list of headings below. Write the correct number, i-ix.

28. Section B

Answer: vii. Using plain language

Supporting statement: "Simplification is the key. This can be achieved by decreasing the complexity of healthcare systems and using clear, unambiguous language in official forms and letters."

Keywords: simplification, clear language, unambiguous

Keyword Location: First sentence, Section B

Explanation: This section emphasizes the need to simplify healthcare communication by using plain language and visual aids.

29. Section C

Answer: i. No surprises

Supporting statement: "Making sure a patient knows and understands what's going to happen to them is important in reducing anxiety."

Keywords: patient knows, understands, reducing anxiety

Keyword Location: First sentence, Section C

Explanation: This section discusses how informing patients beforehand can reduce anxiety, especially in situations involving needles.

30. Section D

Answer: vi. Lending an ear

Supporting statement: "Under the umbrella term of ‘therapeutic communication’, this includes, most importantly, medics being silent and listening compassionately to patients."

Keywords: listening, communication, empathy

Keyword Location: Last sentence, Section D

Explanation: This section highlights the importance of listening to patients and providing compassionate communication.

31. Section E

Answer: viii. A helping hand

Supporting statement: "For those facing procedures on their own, many hospitals now provide volunteer chaperones."

Keywords: help, chaperones, supporting patients

Keyword Location: First sentence, Section E

Explanation: This section describes how hospitals provide support through chaperones and spiritual care.

32. Section F

Answer: Section F → ix. A major demand

Supporting statement: "The need for translated documents and hospital interpreters is clear."

Keywords: demand, interpreters, language barriers

Keyword Location: Last sentence, Section F

Explanation: This section highlights the growing need for language support in healthcare settings.

33. Section G

Answer: ii. Being prepared

Supporting statement: "For patients to get the most out of their visit to a healthcare worker, it's best that they go prepared."

Keywords: prepared, patient readiness, efficient visits

Keyword Location: First sentence, Section G

Explanation: This section discusses how patients should be prepared for medical consultations by knowing their symptoms and asking the right questions.

LIST OF HEADINGS

i. No surprises

ii. Being prepared

iii. An unacknowledged problem

iv. Increasing complexity

v. Hidden illnesses

vi. Lending an ear

vii. Using plain language

viii. A helping hand

ix. A major demand

Question 34

Choose the correct response.

34. Medication is often less effective than it could be because:

A. drug labels can be difficult to understand.

B. it is of poor quality.

C. it is given to the over 75s.

D. people do not have healthy lifestyles.

Answer: A. drug labels can be difficult to understand.

Supporting statement: "It is estimated that up to half of US adults have trouble interpreting medical information."

Keywords: interpreting medical information, drug dosages, medication instructions

Keyword Location: Section A, second paragraph

Explanation: The text states that many adults struggle to understand medical instructions, which affects medication effectiveness.

Question 35-37

Choose the correct response.

35. The article mentions that injections, or the prospect of an injection, can lead to

A. irregular breathing.

B. light headedness.

C. muscle tension.

D. shock.

Answer: B. light headedness

Supporting statement: "A fear of needles in a medical setting, Trypanophobia, affects at least ten per cent of patients and can lead to panic attacks or fainting due to a rapid fall in blood pressure."

Keywords: injections, panic attacks, fainting, blood pressure

Keyword Location: Paragraph C

Explanation: The article states that fear of needles can cause fainting due to a drop in blood pressure, which leads to lightheadedness.

36. Patients undergoing sensitive tests or treatment may be able to get access to:

A. a dignity advisor.

B. a volunteer chaperone.

C. a psychotherapist.

D. a trained and qualified chaperone.

Answer: D. a trained and qualified chaperone

Supporting statement: "For sensitive procedures, medical centres can offer a professional chaperone. In these cases, the chaperone is a medically trained individual who can assist patients and make sure sensitive exams and procedures are done in a safe, comfortable, and professional way."

Keywords: sensitive tests, professional chaperone, medically trained

Keyword Location: Paragraph E

Explanation: The text mentions that professional chaperones are medically trained, making option D the correct answer.

37. The NHS may face problems due to language barriers because

A. it's difficult to recruit enough interpreters.

B. an increasing proportion of the population do not speak English.

C. it's more likely that people could become ill.

D. telephone helplines are only in English.

Answer: B. an increasing proportion of the population do not speak English.

Supporting statement: "The latest UK census showed that eight per cent of the population's main language was not English and, of these, almost three-quarters of a million could not speak English well, while approximately 140,000 could not speak it at all."

Keywords: population, language barriers, English

Keyword Location: Paragraph F

Explanation: The article highlights that a growing number of people in the UK do not speak English, making communication in healthcare settings challenging.

Questions 38-40

Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each.

Patients should prepare for healthcare visits by being ready to describe (38)..........

Answer: symptoms

Supporting statement: "With symptoms, such as a pain, patients must come prepared with specific descriptions."

Keywords: describe, symptoms, specific descriptions

Keyword Location: Paragraph G

Explanation: Patients need to describe symptoms in detail, including location, frequency, duration, and sensation.

such as pain, in detail including location, frequency, duration, and sensation. Honesty about (39).........

Answer: lifestyle choices

Supporting statement: "It's important that the patient is honest in consultations, admitting to lifestyle choices that may cause them embarrassment."

Keywords: honesty, lifestyle choices, embarrassing

Keyword Location: Paragraph G

Explanation: The text emphasizes the importance of honesty regarding lifestyle choices, even if they may be uncomfortable to discuss.

is crucial, even if embarrassing. Understanding medical advice and asking questions is important. (40)..........

Answer: diagnostic errors

Supporting statement: "It's estimated that diagnostic errors and incorrect medication contribute to the death or disability of up to 160,000 patients in the US every year."

Keywords: incorrect medication, patient harm, diagnostic errors

Keyword Location: Paragraph G

Explanation: The article highlights the impact of diagnostic errors and incorrect medication on patient safety.

and incorrect medication contributes to significant patient harm annually in the US. Strong bonds between patients and medical professionals enhance treatment efficiency and effectiveness, benefiting individual and national health.

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