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Summary
Health literacy refers to how well a person can get the health information and services that they need, and how well they understand them. It is also about using them to make good health decisions. It involves differences that people have in areas such as
- Access to information that they can understand
- Skills, such as finding that information, communicating with health care providers, living a healthy lifestyle, and managing a disease
- Knowledge of medical words, and of how their health care system works
- Abilities, such as physical or mental limitations
- Personal factors, such as age, education, language abilities, and culture
More than 90 million adults in the United States have low health literacy. It affects their ability to make health decisions. This can harm their health. They may have trouble managing chronic diseases, and leading a healthy lifestyle. They may go to the hospital more often, and have poorer health overall.
NIH: National Institutes of Health
Related Issues
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Clear & Simple
(National Institutes of Health)
- Current Over-the-Counter Medicine Label: Take a Look (Food and Drug Administration)
- Making Decisions for Your Health: Getting the Info You Need (Food and Drug Administration) Also in Spanish
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Plain Language: Getting Started or Brushing Up
(National Institutes of Health)
Specifics
- MEDLINE/PubMed Search and Health Literacy Information Resources (National Library of Medicine) - MEDLINE/PubMed Search and Health Literacy Information Resources
Health Check Tools
- Question Builder: Be Prepared for Your Next Medical Appointment (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)
Videos and Tutorials
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Understanding Medical Words: A Tutorial from the National Library of Medicine
(National Library of Medicine)
Clinical Trials
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Health Literacy
(National Institutes of Health)
Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: What parents are reading about laryngomalacia: Quality and readability of...
- Article: Concerns and future challenges of health literacy in the Nordic...
- Article: Gender equality in India hit by illiteracy, child marriages and...
- Health Literacy -- see more articles
- MEDLINE/PubMed Search and Health Literacy Information Resources -- see more articles
Reference Desk
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Some Common Abbreviations
(National Library of Medicine)
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Word Parts and What They Mean
(National Library of Medicine)
Children
- Kids' Medical Dictionary (Nemours Foundation)
Teenagers
- Figuring Out Health News (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
Seniors
- Quick Guide to Health Literacy and Older Adults (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion)
Patient Handouts
- Hospitals as health educators (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish