HEALTH LITERACY
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."
Nearly half of all American adults - 90 million people - have difficulty understanding and using health information, and there is a higher rate of hospitalization and use of emergency services among patients with limited health literacy, according to a report by the Institute of Medicine titled Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion.
Low health literacy is more prevalent among
- Older adults
- Minority populations
- Those who have low socioeconomic status
- Medically underserved people
Limited health literacy may lead to billions of dollars in avoidable health care costs. Other consequences include poor health outcomes, medication errors, preventable emergency room visits and hospitalizations and premature death.
For these reasons, the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is emphasizing health literacy, with a new website to provide "information and tools to improve health literacy and public health." The CDC has provided resources for public health departments, healthcare providers and facilities, health plans, schools, community and advocacy organizations, the media and other groups. And the CDC has linked the foundation's work to their website.
Health literacy addresses the capacity to comprehend prescriptions, appointment slips, hospital admission policies, health insurance and financial eligibility information - the ability to navigate the health care system. Health literacy also focuses on how those abilities influence individual health care decision-making.
Improving health literacy is also tied to the basic literacy ability of Americans. Almost half of adults in the U.S. read below an 8th grade level. When accounting for education, income and other variables, a person’s literacy level is the strongest factor impacting health knowledge and disease management skills. In fact, health literacy is a better predictor of one’s health status than age, income, employment, ethnicity, or education level.
The Health Literacy Initiative
The Foundation has developed a Health Literacy Initiative that is working toward an integrated approach to literacy and health in Cuyahoga County in which multiple stakeholders – patients, health care providers and insurers, schools, libraries, media, the business community, government agencies and other community organizations – play a role.
The Foundation is building support for a community-wide effort to advance health literacy and link with various efforts sprouting throughout the Midwest and nationally. Our objectives are:
- To increase the health literacy and capacity of individuals and medical providers to reduce health disparities, and
- To enhance the capacity of organizations to implement or adapt effective programs within the field of health literacy.
Baby Basics is one promising project the foundation has supported to address health literacy.
Women who participate in MomsFirst, a city of Cleveland program that offers case management and home visiting services to pregnant women and new moms until their babies reach age one, get a copy of Baby Basics that helps moms-to-be understand what's happening to their bodies, how to take care of themselves during pregnancy, including exercising and eating right.
MomsFirst want to reduce the number of babies who die before they are a year old. The program helps the moms get a medical home, health insurance and even help in getting to doctors' appointments.
In recognition of the importance of health literacy to the development of healthy communities, The Cleveland Foundation has joined with the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland to act as a co-funder of the Health Literacy Initiative. The two foundations have awarded more than $1 million in grants towards health literacy since the foundation's initiative began in June of 2007.
A variety of strategies are being tested with the goal of:
- encouraging better health decisions and healthy behaviors,
- promoting health literacy education and training for health professionals, and
- enhancing communication between consumers and care providers.
For More Information
Read the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's "
What We Know," report on health literacy.