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Health Literacy
Use this guide to learn more about health literacy and cultural and linguistic competency.
Healthy People 2020 defines health literacy as "the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions."
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has developed a toolkit for primary care providers to "reduce the complexities of health care, increase patient understanding of health information, and enhance support for patients of all health literacy levels."
Centers for Disease and Prevention website that includes tools on health literacy research, practice and evaluation on a variety of public health topics and situations.
Center for Health Care Strategies, Inc. has developed a series of fact sheets for clinicians, patient advocates and other stakeholders for patients with low health literacy levels.
Jacobson, K. L., & Parker, R. M. (2014). Teaching Patients with Low Literacy Skills. Retrieved from Center for Health Guidance: http://centerforhealthguidance.org/health-literacy-principles-checklist.pdf
Harvard University's T.H. Chan School of Public Health provides tools, policy papers and other research findings on the topic of health literacy studies and practice.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2010). National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy. Washington, DC: Author.