Health Literacy Activities by State

K-12 Literacy and Numeracy State Data

• National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Reading, Math and Science scores for 4th, 8th and 12th graders
• Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) Reading, Math and Science Literacy scores for 15 year olds

The links on this page include state and local collaborations and academic, government and non-profit organizations with a health literacy focus. In line with the National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy [665 KB, 73 Pages], activities listed on this page cross organizational boundaries, provide new knowledge to the field, or convene diverse stakeholders. Links to organizations promoting their own internal health literacy activities or individuals promoting their health literacy services will not be included on this page. Web sites reproducing material already available on this site also will not be included. Please read the web site selection policy [100 KB, 2 Pages, HTML] before nominating links for this page. You may send suggestions for new links to healthliteracy@cdc.gov.

Alabama

Alabama Health Literacy Initiative

The purpose of the Alabama Health Literacy Initiative is to support patient-centered educational opportunities, guide outreach activities, and create partnerships to advance health literacy and improve health outcomes in the state of Alabama.

Arizona

Arizona Health Literacy Coalition
The Arizona Health Literacy Coalition is an informal group of individuals and organizations interested in promoting health literacy in Arizona.

Health Literacy Arizona
The Arizona Health Literacy Collaboration brings together a broad range of experience and expertise in both health literacy and in working with those most in need in Arizona.

Arkansas

Partnership for Health Literacy in Arkansas
The mission of The Partnership is to improve health literacy among Arkansans by developing strategies and promoting collaboration.

UAMS Center for Health Literacy
The mission of the UAMS Center for Health Literacy is to improve society and population health by making health information easier to understand and use.

Colorado

Colorado Health Literacy Coalition (CHLC)
The Colorado Health Literacy Coalition promotes health literacy by providing resources, training and best practices through collaboration with organizations across the state.

Florida

Florida Health Literacy Initiative
The Florida Literacy Coalition and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida make targeted grants to promote health literacy. The goal is to provide health-education resources for local adult English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and family literacy programs so that students in these programs can make informed choices about their health and nutrition. The Coalition also develops and distributes health curricula for adult education students.

Georgia

Georgia Alliance for Health Literacy
The Georgia Alliance for Health Literacy (GAHL) is a nonprofit, volunteer coalition representing educators, researchers, government officials, health care providers, health care payers, patients and consumers. GAHL members raise awareness about health literacy skills, offer health literacy resources, and foster better communication for a healthy Georgia and a robust health care industry.

Indiana

Indiana Center for Intercultural Communication
The Center’s research on Intercultural Health Communication provides linguistic solutions to problems arising in the processing, comprehension, and interpretation of health-related communication.

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Kansas

Health Literacy Kansas
Health Literacy Kansas brings together organizations to address health literacy issues in the state. The collaboration is supported in part by Kansas Head Start.

Kentucky

Health Literacy Kentucky
Health Literacy Kentucky is a partnership of more than 35 organizations that have come together to address the issues and challenges associated with limited health literacy in Kentucky.

Maryland

Horowitz Center for Health Literacy, University of Maryland 
The Herschel S. Horowitz Center for Health Literacy has been established to address the major public health problem of poor health literacy and its effect on health outcomes.

Massachusetts

The Central Massachusetts Health Literacy Project

Minnesota

Minnesota Health Literacy Partnership
The mission of the Minnesota Health Literacy Partnership is to improve the health of all Minnesotans through clear health communication.

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Missouri

Health Literacy Missouri
HLM is a non-profit corporation based in St. Louis with a mission to improve the health of all Missourians while becoming a national leader in health literacy.

New York

Literacy Assistance Center Health Literacy Initiative
The Literacy Assistance Center’s New York City Health Literacy Initiative offers a variety of materials to help adult education practitioners and healthcare providers understand and work to improve health literacy.

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North Carolina

North Carolina Program on Health Literacy
The Program on Health Literacy represents a collaborative effort of the UNC Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Public Health, Dentistry, Pharmacy and Education as well as community organizations and neighboring universities. The group’s overarching goal is to further health literacy collaborations among university disciplines to improve health outcomes.

Wake Health Literacy
The coalition is a multidisciplinary group of individuals interested in increasing awareness, knowledge and understanding of health and health care in Wake County.

Ohio

Collaborative for Clear Health Communication
Convened by The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Office of Outreach & Engagement and Area Health Education Center (AHEC), the Collaborative members represent public and private state-wide organizations that have an interest in and an impact on health literacy within healthcare systems, industry, or in communities.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma Health Equity Campaign
The Oklahoma Health Equity Campaign (OHEC) is a statewide collaborative of faith-based, community, educational, public and private organizations and all levels of government to eliminate inequities for all populations. The partners have formed a health literacy committee to develop an Oklahoma Health Literacy Action Plan.

Pennsylvania

Regional Health Literacy Coalition
The Regional Health Literacy Coalition promotes health literacy and helps providers and patients find ways to better understand each other. The Coalition works with nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and others in southwestern Pennsylvania; identifies best practices and ensures community partners have the tools to effect positive change; and develops policy options related to health literacy using evidence-based research.

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Texas

San Antonio Health Literacy Initiative
The purpose of the San Antonio Health Literacy Initiative and Collaborative is to act as a county-wide expert roundtable in health literacy by bringing together representatives from various entities, both public and private, to share their experiences and possible solutions addressing low health literacy in San Antonio.

The Literacy Coalition of Central Texas
The Literacy Coalition of Central Texas health literacy initiative forms strategic partnerships with healthcare providers and adult education institutions in order to raise awareness and promote strategies to improve patient-provider communication, and thus improve the health of community members.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin Health Literacy
Wisconsin Health Literacy (WHL) is a statewide organization raising awareness of the importance of health literacy and fostering better communication between health care consumers and health care providers. WHL is a division of Wisconsin Literacy, Inc., a nonprofit coalition representing a membership of 73 community-based adult and family literacy agencies.

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