What is health literacy?
Health literacy is the ability to read, understand, remember and use information to make decisions about your health. Being health literate also means you can follow your health care provider's treatment instructions. People with low health literacy understand less about their medical conditions and treatments, and report a lower health status overall. They are less likely to use preventive care services and have higher rates of hospitalization.
Being health literate will:
- Help you find care and use services;
- Help you care for yourself;
- Allow you to make your own decisions about your health and care;
- Help you understand how to improve your health; and
- Allow you to be more comfortable talking to your health care providers.
1 in 10 adults in the US has proficient health literacy, meaning that 9 in 10 adults need help finding, understanding, and using health information.
Resources
- AHRQ Patient and Family Engagement in Primary Care
- AHRQ Patients and Consumers
- Patient Safety Authority Health Literacy
Tools for Patients:
Plain Language Thesaurus – offers plain language version of medical terms and phrases for better understanding
A Patient's Guide to Teach-Back – technique for patients to ensure that they understand the information that their provider has given
The 10 Questions You Should Know – questions for patients to ask to help them be more involved in their health care
Taking Care of Myself: A Guide for When I Leave the Hospital – guide for patients to help take care of themselves when they leave the hospital
Tools for Providers:
Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit
Toolkit for Making Written Material Clear and Effective