October is Health Literacy Month. Health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information needed to make appropriate health decisions.
During Health Literacy Month, we recognize the importance of making health information easy to understand for patients and families. We encourage all Cooper team members to learn more about how promoting health literacy can improve the patient experience and result in better patient outcomes.
What are the impacts of low health literacy?
- Poor health outcomes
- Lack of understanding and decreased comprehension of medical information
- Medication errors
- Receive fewer preventive services
- Lack of engagement with providers
- Increased and unnecessary hospital utilization
What are the components of health literacy?
- Ability to understand and use numbers
- Ability to understand what is said
- Reading skills
- Speaking skills
- Writing skills
What are some key health literacy strategies?
- Use plain, non-medical language.
- Keep reading materials to a fifth- or sixth-grade level.
- Slow down and limit content.
- Repeat key points.
- Use graphics or visuals.
- Invite patient participation and encourage questions.
- Use the teach-back method to show how it’s done.
- Consider language and/or culture preferences.
To learn more about health literacy, enroll in the health literacy course on the Cooper Learning Network (CLN) by typing “health literacy” in the search box.