If you work in public health, you probably have experience with the impact of limited health literacy on your everyday work. Public health communicators are responsible for getting out vital information. This information is often technical or unfamiliar to the public at large and to specific groups affected by a public health threat. We may rely on other government agencies, community groups, schools, the media – traditional and social media – and partner organizations to help us reach as broadly as possible into the community.
Limited health literacy, however, affects more than communication. It affects how we design, implement and assess public health programs, conduct outbreak investigations, respond to public health emergencies, and monitor and track health conditions in communities.
When we
- provide screening services that require people to fill out forms they don’t understand,
- ask residents questions about community conditions that don’t make sense to them, or
- provide jargon-filled information about a public health threat that doesn’t provide a clear action step to lower the threat
we’ve missed an opportunity to improve public health.
The National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy includes goals and strategies that any public health organization can use to improve its own practices and identify local partners to help connect with the community. Adult literacy service providers, librarians, social service agencies, such as those that meet the needs of homebound elders, and visiting nurse associations are examples of non-traditional partners that reach people in everyday life.
If you work in public health, please share your experiences with us about the role limited health literacy plays in the work of your organization and how you are improving health literacy.
If you work in public health, who outside of public health would you like to partner with on limited health literacy? What do you need to make these partnerships happen?
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May 13, 2011 at 7:46 pm ET - Jennifer Dillaha
Clearly public health departments can play a key role in advancing the health literacy of the populations we serve. But, perhaps more importantly, through the public health funding and resources provided to states through multiple agencies within HHS, including CDC, there are also many opportunities to advance the health literacy of the public health system itself. For that reason, it has been really exciting for the Arkansas Department of Health to be a part of the efforts of HHS Region VI Office of Women’s Health and Office of Minority Health to improve how we integrate health literacy into the programs and clinical services offered through our local health units. In 2009 Region VI partnered with Sage Words and took on a health literacy project that resulted in the creation of oral contraceptive patient materials that are easy to read and easy to use. (This project is described at http://www.centerforhealthtraining.org/projects/pr_healthliteracy.html.) This is an excellent example of a strategy to improve the practice of public health that lines up with Goals 1 and 2 of the National Action Plan .
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May 1, 2011 at 4:47 pm ET - Jonathan Ramos
Research shows that health illiteracy is associated with increased rates of hospital admissions, poor health outcomes, and higher health care expenditures including use of expensive emergency room (ER) services.
Recognizing this problem, it will be helpful to promote patient education activities such as self-management classes. Classes will include basic information in health promotion, health protection, disease prevention, and health care and maintenance. Furthermore, it will teach patients basic knowledge, skills, and right attitude to allow them autonomous decisions regarding their care; therefore, improve health literacy and health outcomes.
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April 26, 2011 at 2:02 pm ET - Xanthi Scrimgeour
As health education and communication professionals, we find that a crucial, yet often overlooked aspect of health literacy is the design of materials and Web sites. At CommunicateHealth, we address this by:
1. Involving users in the design process. For example, we were asked by the CDC to create lead poisoning prevention information for recent immigrants and refugees—without using words. We enlisted refugee service providers, adult educators, and refugees to help us come up with the design. For example, based on user input, we integrated common symbols used in refugee camps and added limited words in English.
2. Working with designers who understand health literacy principles. At the very least, we make sure all of our Web designers have reviewed Health Literacy Online and are knowledgeable about the importance of addressing health literacy. We look for designers who appreciate clean visual design and meaningful use of color and icons.
By involving designers, users, and other non-traditional partners in the creation and dissemination of information, we can further bridge the health literacy gap.
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April 20, 2011 at 7:57 pm ET - Kristen
-I would like to add to the conversation the role universities and academic institutions play in the promotion of health literacy-
Across the U.S. institutions conduct research and interact with the communities outside of academia. It becomes a challenge in my position as a Coordinator of Translational Research to be able to find ways to disseminate and translate health information to our communities in a thoughtful, clear, and accurate manner as not to cause alarm, overwhelm, nor adversely conflict with other messages of health information that Americans may need in order to manage diseases, make health decisions, and promote overall health and wellness daily.
Partnerships that have been strategic in our implementation of health literacy objectives have been turning to the same community members whom we strive to serve. With the development of a community advisory board comprised of health leaders, medical professionals, grassroots organizations, *local community members, and students who actively add input in our research dissemination process from research topics, development, edit public print/electronic media, in addition to many other aspects of research efforts – all to be able to find ways for us to better tailor our health messages from highly specific research topics and complex data findings has been key.
Community participation has played a large role in our health literacy vision and goals. It has promoted not only change but positive community partnerships as well. Granted it’s not the only measure we use, but it has been an eye-opening and successful step towards our institution goals to improve health literacy.
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