Health Literacy

What is Health Literacy?

According to Healthy People, health literacy is the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services to make appropriate health decisions.¹

Why Does Health Literacy Matter?

Every day, people confront situations that involve life-changing decisions about their health. These decisions are made in places such as grocery and drug stores, workplaces, playgrounds, doctors' offices, clinics and hospitals, and around the kitchen table. Obtaining, processing, and understanding health information and services are essential steps in making appropriate health decisions; however, research indicates that today's health information is presented in ways that are not usable by most adults.

Nearly 9 out of 10 adults have difficulty using the everyday health information that is routinely available in our healthcare facilities, retail outlets, media and communities.²
Without clear information and an understanding of the information's importance, people are more likely to skip necessary medical tests, end up in the emergency room more often, and have a harder time managing chronic diseases like diabetes or high blood pressure.³

Who Does it Affect?

People of all ages, races, incomes, and education levels can find it difficult to obtain process and understand health information and services. Literacy skills are only a part of health literacy. Even people with strong reading and writing skills can face health literacy challenges, such as when:

They are not familiar with medical terms or how their bodies work.
They have to interpret numbers or risks that could have immediate effects on their health and safety.
They are diagnosed with a serious illness and are scared or confused.
They have health conditions that require complicated self-care.
They are voting on a critical local issue affecting the community's health and are relying on unfamiliar technical information.

What Needs to Be Done?

We can do much better in designing and presenting health information and services that people can use effectively. We can build our own health literacy skills and help others—laypersons, health professionals, and anyone else who communicates about health—build their skills too. The resources linked from this page will help you learn about health literacy issues, develop skills, and apply what you learn to create health information and services that truly make a positive difference in people's lives.

CDC Resources

Training

Health Literacy for Public Health Professionals

Reports

Improving Health Literacy for Older Adults – Expert Panel Report 2009 ( 1.97MB)

Other U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Web Pages on Health Literacy

¹U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2000. Healthy People 2010. 2nd ed. With Understanding and Improving Health and Objectives for Improving Health. 2 vols. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

²Institute of Medicine Committee on Health Literacy. 2004. Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion. Nielsen-Bohlman L, Panzer AM, Kindig DA, Editors. Institute of Medicine. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; Kutner M, Greenberg E, Jin Y, Paulsen C. 2006. The Health Literacy of America's Adults: Results From the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NCES 2006-483). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics; Rudd, RE, Anderson JE, Oppenheimer S, Nath C. Health Literacy: An Update of Public Health and Medical Literature, chapter 6 in Comings JP, Garner B., Smith C. (eds), Review of Adult Learning and Literacy, volume 7. Mahway NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp 175-204, 2007.

³Institute of Medicine Committee on Health Literacy. 2004. Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion. Nielsen-Bohlman L, Panzer AM, Kindig DA, Editors. Institute of Medicine. Washington, DC: National Academies Press

Page last modified on November 2, 2009