Health Literacy ▬ The Healthy People 2020

Health Literacy: The Healthy People 2020

Health Literacy

Healthy People: October 2020

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) defines health literacy as “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information needed to make appropriate health decisions.”

Adequate health literacy may include being able to read and comprehend essential health-related materials (e.g., prescription bottles, appointment slips, etc.).

Adequate health literacy may increase a person’s capacity to take responsibility for their health and their family’s health.

However, health literacy is not just the result of individual capacities but also the health-literacy related demands and complexities of the health care system.  For example, individuals with low literacy may not be able to understand prescription labels—but an organization that values health literacy makes it a priority to implement systems and interventions such as visual aids and counseling that increase understanding and thereby advance patient safety.

Low overall literacy may impact health literacy; however, the relationship between them is complex.  For example, an individual may have high overall literacy and still have low health literacy.  Low or limited health literacy skills are more prevalent among certain population groups and may be linked to many poor health outcomes

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A number of factors may influence an individual’s health literacy, including living in poverty, education, race/ethnicity, age, and disability. Adults living below the poverty level have lower health literacy than adults living above the poverty level.

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Some of the greatest disparities in health literacy occur among racial and ethnic minority groups from different cultural backgrounds and those who do not speak English as a first language.

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Health literacy challenges may impact older adults more than other age groups. On average, adults age 65 and older have lower health literacy than adults under the age of 65.  READ MORE ➤➤

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 15

Reading Level: very difficult to read.

Reader's Age: College graduate

 

Literacy Reports & Statistics

 

Health

Quick Guide to Health Literacy and Older Adults, US Dept of Health & Human Services

2019: Health Literacy in the 50 States, Health IQ (an Insurance Co.)

2018: How Health Literacy Got Started, Helen Osborne

2017: Hidden Cost of Healthcare System Complexity, Accenture

2015: Health Literacy & Patient Engagement, 12th Annual Report, US HHS Sep 2015

2011: Health Literacy Interventions Outcomes: Updated Systematic Rvw, AHRQ

2010: Health Literacy, NNLM

2010: Health Literacy: Accurate Accessible Actionable Health Info. for All, CDC

2009: Reaching America’s Health Potential Among Adults, RWJ Foundation

2009: Low Health Literacy, NAAL 2003

2004: Literacy and Health in America, ETS