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.” 

AMA Foundation provides a Health Literacy Kit which can be purchased.  It provides for 2.5 Level 1 credits.  A manual for clinicians (PDF) can be downloaded at no cost. The Manual "Health literacy and patient safety: Help patients understand" provides a broad view with content ranging from background data, implications of poor health literacy, and remedies/solutions/approaches to address the issue .

AHRQ has a health literacy curriculum for pharmacists: Strategies to Improve Communication between Pharmacy Staff and Patients: Training Program for Pharmacy Staff. It includes a slide set and a trainer's guide. It focuses on communication on medication, but could be used with clinicians other than pharmacists.

The Medical Library Association provides extensive information on meeting the challenges of poor health literacy.  Resources include short and long PowerPoint presentations which can be use for instruction for health information providers and a variety of supportive materials.  Links are also provided to several resources for teaching consumers how to search for and evaluate health information on the internet. Announced in July is the addition of a free online tutorial.

Virginia Adult Education Health Literacy Toolkit is a resource to help adult instructors and better understand the problem of health literacy. It is designed to support creative approaches to help learners increase health literacy as they engage in sound, productive adult literacy instruction. Information and resources are provided to educate the educator about health care in the United States and cultural issues relating to health, and to simplify creation of health lessons and curricula for teachers and programs.

Adult Literacy Education (ALE) Wiki Includes discussion of adult literacy education, including English language learning,health literacy, numeracy, and adult basic and secondary education. Add knowledge from your experience teaching or tutoring adult learners, from research or professional wisdom, or from your experience as an adult learner. The ALE Wiki is a community of practice with links to research for practitioners, researchers, learners and others.

ZarcBark, a blog written by Christina Zarcadoolas, PhD, a sociolinguist.

National Institute for Literacy Listservs

The Health Literacy Month blog features stories about why health literacy matters.

Health Literacy – for health and well being - Reflections on the importance of health literacy awareness and how it impacts nearly 50% of the US population.

The University of New England Health Literacy Institute provides 17 contact hours, certified on completion. An opportunity to learn a spectrum of plain language skills to create vibrant print communications.

The University of Virginia Health System provides guidance on establishing a medical school health literacy curriculum.

From National Institute for Literacy Health and Literacy listserv, a collection of health literacy curricula

Ask Me 3  from the Partnership for Clear Health Communication at the National Patient Safety Foundation.

Helen Osborne's Health Literacy Consulting with a free newsletter, podcasts, Health Literacy Month information, and publications links.

Nebraska Methodist College Health Literacy Resources

Health Literacy Now is a commercial-free website for low health literacy patients. It provides simple and clear information with illustrations regarding chronc and preventable diseases, nutrition and medications. It is an important resource for patients, providers and health educators.  Suggested through the Comments Function -- Thanks, Dr. Ali!

Health Literacy Bibliography, University of Virginia Health System

Advancing Health Literacy: Meeting the needs of adult learners  TheNational Institute of Literacy's webcast presented September 16, 2008. Ian Bennett, M.D., Ph.D. of the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine and Graduate School of Education; Susan R. Levy, Ph.D. of the University of Illinois at Chicago; and Andrew Pleasant, Ph.D. of Rutgers University, and moderator Sandra L. Baxter, Ed.D. discussed new and emerging topics in health literacy

The Role of Health Literacy in Patient Safety, from the AHRQ Morbidity & Mortality Rounds on the Web

Health Literacy: the missing link in patient-physician communication, AMA-MSS Subcommittee on Health Literacy. Community Service Committee.