Health Literacy: A Bridge to Health Equity
Published June 6, 2022
Reading Time: 3 minutes In the wake of the pandemic’s disparate impacts on different communities, healthcare organizations are exploring ways to advance their health equity initiatives. Given the fact that health literacy was identified as a valuable tool to help populations disproportionately affected by COVID-19, it is clear that addressing low health literacy can effectively improve health equity. What[…]
Health Equity: What it Means and Why it Matters
Published May 17, 2022
Reading Time: 4 minutes With more discussion than ever around healthcare’s role in achieving health equity, it’s important for healthcare professionals, healthcare organizations, and communities to have a shared understanding of the key concepts and why achieving health equity matters. Making sense of the terminology Here’s an overview of key health equity-related terms. Health equity: Essentially, health equity means[…]
How Health Literate is Your Organization?
Published November 22, 2021
Reading Time: 3 minutes Healthcare has a language of its own. Unfortunately, more than one-third of U.S. adults have limited health literacy, making it difficult for them to comprehend the language of healthcare. Limited health literacy negatively impacts a person’s ability to make informed decisions about their health and navigate to the medical services they need. It is estimated[…]
Health Literacy: A Valuable Tool in the Fight Against COVID-19
Published August 3, 2020
Reading Time: 3 minutes Health literacy – the capacity to access, process and understand basic health information – is fundamental to making good health decisions. Numerous studies over the last several decades have shown that only an estimated 12% of U.S. adults have what is considered proficient health literacy skills. The widespread lack of health literacy is a significant[…]
Four Simple Strategies for Improving Patient Health Literacy
Published September 30, 2019
Reading Time: 4 minutes The U.S. has a health literacy problem. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, nearly nine out of ten adults lack the necessary skills to manage their health and prevent disease. Low patient health literacy has been linked to higher rates of chronic illnesses and preventable hospitalizations, poor self-care and less frequent[…]