Introduction
Health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information. For patients, health literacy means being able to follow instructions from a doctor, nurse or pharmacist; manage a chronic illness; or take medication properly. For health care practitioners, it is about helping patients understand and act on health care information.
According to the Institute of Medicine Report titled Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion (2004), 90 million people have difficulty understanding and using health information. Studies also show that people from all ages, races, income, and education levels are challenged by this problem. Programs to promote health literacy should be sensitive to cultural and language preferences.
Frequently Asked Questions
Tools
Ask Me 3
Web site
Provides information about health literacy for health care providers, patients, employers, and the media and includes brochures in English and Spanish. Lists questions to ask a doctor, nurse, or pharmacist and tips to better understand personal health.
Building a Health Literacy Curriculum
Web site
The guidelines serve as a rough guide for teaching the important skills of recognizing which patients are unable to understand their medical needs and how to help those patients reach that understanding. General illiteracy, deafness and inability to comprehend English will be frequent types of Health Literacy issues.
Harvard School of Public Health: Health Literacy Studies
Web site
Research program of the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy, whose work is based in public health, health care settings, and adult education programs. Program maintains strong links to public health and medical institutions, adult education programs, as well as to state departments of public health and education. Site is designed for professionals in health and education.
Health & Literacy Special Collection
Web site
Contains health curricula for literacy classes, resources to provide basic health information in simple language, resources in languages other than English, information about the link between literacy & health status, and links to organizations dedicated to health and literacy education.
Health Information Partners: Resources on Health Literacy
Web site
Contains links to health literacy resources and recommended sites.
Health Literacy
Web site
Includes information on health literacy including definitions, skills needed for health literacy, background information, the role of the consumer health librarian, and health literacy programs.
Health Literacy and Cultural Competency: Research Findings
Web site
Provides links to research activities regarding health literacy and cultural competency from the years 2002-2005.
Health Literacy Resources
Web site
Lists resources and tools that can be used to develop health literacy programs. Compiled by the Health Resources and Administration (HRSA) Health Literacy Work Group.
Health Literacy: American Medical Association
Web site
Contains tools to raise awareness of health literacy through toolkits, videos, and partnerships.
HRSA Health Literacy
Web site
Overview of health literacy issues, with links to health literacy resources.
Is Our Pharmacy Meeting Patients' Needs?: Pharmacy Health Literacy Assessment Tool User's Guide
Web site
Provides tools to conduct a pharmacy health literacy assessment. Tools could be adapted for a rural pharmacy.
MLANET Health Information Literacy
Web site
Collection of resources and documents on health literacy for health and information professionals and for health consumers.
Newest Vital Sign: A Health Literacy Assessment Tool
Web site
Is a bilingual (English and Spanish) screening tool that identifies patients at risk for low health literacy.
Pfizer Clear Health Communication Initiative
Web site
Includes information and resources including what is health literacy, statistics, myths and reality, and signs of low health literacy.
Plain & Simple: A Health Literacy Project for Iowa
Web site
Aimed at helping public health workers and partners use plain language when writing or speaking about health. Involves communication that people can understand the first time they hear or read it.
Rhode Island Health Literacy Project
Web site
Provides many health literacy resources including a Health Literacy Provider Toolkit. Includes information for patients, cultural competency resources, and physician resources.
Unified Health Communication 101: Addressing Health Literacy, Cultural Competency, and Limited English Proficiency
Web site
Free online training. Course can be taken for credit (CEU/CE, CHES, CME, CNE) or not for credit. Course addresses health literacy, cultural competency and patient communication skills.
Regulations, Forms & Other Useful Documents
Accessible Health Information Technology for Populations with Limited Literacy: A Guide for Developers and Purchasers of Health IT
Author(s): June Eichner, Prashila Dullabh
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Designed for developers and purchasers of health information (IT).
Date: 10 / 2007
Family Health and Literacy
Author(s): Julie McKinney, Sabrina Kurtz-Rossi
Sponsoring organization: National Institute for Literacy
Includes health materials and websites with examples of how to integrate health and literacy education, how to get started and engage adult learners, and how to build connections between literacy programs and local health services.
Date: 2006
Health Literacy Fact Sheets
Author(s): Linda Potter, Constance Martin
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Care Strategies
Created for those designing patient education materials for consumers with low health literacy skills. The sheets define health literacy, describe its impact on health outcomes, provide strategies to prepare appropriate educational materials to assist low-literate consumers, and provide resources for additional health literacy information and publications.
Date: 08 / 2005
Health Literacy in a Rural Clinic
Author(s): Felecia G. Wood
Sponsoring organization: Rural Nurse Organization
Describes findings of a study assessing the health literacy of people seeking care in a rural health clinic in the southeastern United States.
Journal citation: Online Journal of Rural Nursing and Health Care Volume 5 Issue 1
Date: 2005
Health Literacy Practices in Primary Care Settings: Examples from the Field
Author(s): Sharon E. Barrett, Jennifer Sheen Puryear, Kathie Westpheling
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
Findings from a 2005 study in which the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved did an online survey of health care facilities across the country and then followed up with visits to five selected sites, including rural, for staff and patient interviews.
Date: 01 / 2008
Health Literacy Style Manual
Sponsoring organization: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Is a resource for developing and improving applications, notices and other print materials related to government programs. It includes examples from real programs and can be used to make materials more client-centered, thus increasing consumers' capacity to find and understand health information and services and to make informed health-related decisions.
Date: 10 / 2005
Health Literacy: A Critical but Hidden Health Issue
Provides health literacy information and resources. Discusses the scope of the problem, the impact on health care, and populations at risk for low health literacy.
Journal citation: Volume 6 Issue 1 Pages: 2-5
Date: 2005
Health Literacy: A Manual for Clinicians
Author(s): Barry D.Weiss
Sponsoring organization: American Medical Association
Discusses the problem of limited health literacy and its consequences for the healthcare system. Provides practical tips for clinicians to use in making their office practices
more "user-friendly" to patients with limited health literacy, and give suggestions for
improving interpersonal communication between clinicians and patients.
Date: 06 / 2006
Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion
Sponsoring organization: Institute of Medicine
Examines the body of knowledge that applies to the field of health literacy, and recommends actions to promote a health literate society.
Date: 2004
Health Literacy: Program Brief
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Summarizes the research supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to improve health literacy as it pertains to prevention, healthy living, chronic disease management, patient-centered health care, cultural competence, and health disparities.
Low Health Literacy: How It Impacts Your Patients & What You Can Do about It
Author(s): Jean Blackwell
Defines low literacy and identifies how low literacy affects the health status of adults.
Date: 01 / 2005
MedlinePlus and the Challenge of Low Health Literacy: Findings From the Colonias Project
Author(s): Cynthia A. Olney, Debra G. Warner, Greysi Reyna, Fred B. Wood, Elliot R. Siegel
Sponsoring organization: Medical Library Association
Discusses the Colonias Project, an 18-month outreach project with the goal of increasing the usage of MedlinePlus and MedlinePlus en español and overcoming associated problems with health literacy in low-income, medically underserved Hispanic communities (colonias) along the Texas-Mexico border, where residents primarily speak Spanish.
Journal citation: Journal of the Medical Library Association Volume 95 Issue 1 Pages: 31-39
Date: 01 / 2007
Navigating Health: The Role of Health Literacy
Author(s): Ilona Kickbusch, Suzanne Wait, Daniela Maag
Sponsoring organization: Pfizer
Is a call to action to policymakers to make health literacy a central pillar in health policy discussions, research and action at an international, national, and local level.
Poor Health Literacy Associated with Poorer Physical and Mental Health
Sponsoring organization: American Medical Association
Health problems that place limitations on daily activities and result in pain that interferes with normal work activities were more common among older individuals with poor health literacy.
Date: 09 / 2005
Program Brief: Health Literacy
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Lists what the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has been doing in the area of health literacy.
Date: 09 / 2007
What Did the Doctor Say?: Improving Health Literacy to Protect Patient Safety
Sponsoring organization: Joint Commission
Discusses health literacy issues which place patients at greater risk of preventable adverse events. Also, discusses how cultural, language and communication barriers can potentially lead to misunderstandings between patients and their health care providers.
Date: 2007
Organizations
Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS)
Nonprofit/Foundation
Promotes high quality health care services for low-income populations and people with chronic illnesses and disabilities.
Healthy Roads Media
Nonprofit/Foundation
Contains free health education materials in a number of languages and a variety of formats. Being developed to study the value of these formats in providing health information for diverse populations in a variety of settings.
National Institute for Literacy (NIFL)
National organization
Provides national leadership regarding literacy, coordinates literacy services and policy, and serves as a national resource for adult education and literacy programs.
Terms & Acronyms
Cultural Competency A competency based on the premise of respect for individuals and cultural differences, and an implementation of a trust-promoting method of inquiry.
Health Literacy The degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.
Limited literacy The inability to read or write above a 7th grade reading level, which would make it difficult to perform daily, necessary tasks.
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