Improving Health Literacy  Tags: education literacy illiteracy health_literacy health_communications health_sciences health_behavior_and_health_education information_literacy  

"This project has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract No. N01-LM-6-3503 with the University of Illinois at Chicago.” 

There are two central reasons to identify patients with low literacy:

   1.  To alert your practice to those patients who may require that more attention be paid to communication.
   2.  To identify patients who may benefit from referral to local literacy agency.

Some well-developed approaches to health literacy do not necessarily require formal identification of persons with low literacy. While these sites DO discuss identification and provide tools to assist, they also acknowledge that health information can be confusing for anyone and understanding health information is everyone's right; improving clear health communication is everyone's responsibility. Adopting a "clear" or "plain" language approach has wide applicability.

Here is information and links to some of those.

The Pfizer Clear Communication Initiative      

Ask Me 3

Plain Language

Clear & Simple: Developing Effective Print Materials for Low-Literate Readers, an extensive guide from the