Understanding Your Health Literacy :: WBIR

Health Literacy: Understanding your health

WBIR: 10.05.2015  VIDEO

Kelsey Leonard, a health information librarian at UT Medical Center explains the importance of understanding health information for Health Literacy Month.  VIDEO

Understanding Health Literacy

University of Tennessee Medical Center

Health Information Center:  11.13.2014

What is health literacy and why is it important? Health literacy is defined as “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information needed to make appropriate health decisions and services needed to prevent or treat illness”.

According to Health and Human Services (HHS), having low health literacy can affect the ability to do things such as:

•Fill out complex forms

•Share personal information such as health history

•Get important screening tests

•Manage a chronic disease

•Understand how to take medicines

In 2010, the HHS Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion released a National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy. The plan aimed "to stimulate a society wide movement to make the vision of a health literate America a reality".