Health Literacy Publications

Guiding frameworks, articles, and reports on health literacy.

Guiding Frameworks and Models | Articles, Papers and Reports

Guiding Frameworks and Models

��Ƶhas contributed to the development of several guiding frameworks and models for how healthcare systems can address health literacy.

Ten Attributes of Health Literate Health Care Organizations

Health literate healthcare organizations make it easier for people to navigate, understand, and use information and services to take care of their health. The discussion paper, "," describes what health systems must do to become health literate.

Learn about ��Ƶtools that can help health systems address the 10 attributes of health literate healthcare organizations.

Listen to a podcast with Cindy Brach on the .

Health Literate Care Model

Improving health outcomes relies on patients' full engagement in prevention, decision-making, and self-management activities. Health systems that incorporate health literacy strategies into the Care Model (also known as the Chronic Care Model) make it easier for people to understand and act on available health information. The Health Literate Care Model explains how to tackle that integration. For each of the Care Model's elements, an updated "health-literate" version includes relevant tools from the ��ƵHealth Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit and maximizes the potential for system change. The Health Literate Care Model represents a practical systems framework for organizations that aspire to address all patients' health literacy challenges comprehensively, synergistically, and proactively.

Access the article, "."

Visit an .

Moving Beyond the Cycle of Costly "Crisis Care"

Navigating the healthcare system is not just a challenge for those who have limited health literacy. Patients are regularly confronted with complicated, confusing forms and instructions. As a result, too many people are hospitalized after being given ambiguous instructions about medications or failing to recognize the symptoms of a worsening condition. A Health Affairs article depicts the costly cycle of "crisis care" and describes how health systems can break the cycle by addressing health literacy.

Access the article "".

Listen to a podcast with .

Articles, Papers, and Reports

Peer-Reviewed Articles, Book Chapters, and Reports

��Ƶresearchers have published the following articles and book chapters related to health literacy.

(2021), and its associated and .
(2021)
(2020)
More Effort Is Needed To Ensure Patients Understand Doctors’ Instructions (2019 fact sheet [PDF, 753 KB])
More Adults Report Always Being Asked To Teach Back Providers' Instructions (2019 infographic)
(2019)
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(winner of the Journal for Healthcare Quality Impact Article of the Year award) (2014)
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(2013) (Also visit the of the Health Literate Care Model.)
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Improving Patient Safety Systems for Patients With Limited English Proficiency: A Guide for Hospitals (2012)
(2007)

You can also find AHRQ-funded studies on health literacy by searching ��ƵResearch Studies.

Blogs

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Making Progress on Healthy People 2030 Health Literacy Objectives.
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America's Health Literacy: Why We Need Accessible Health Information

This brief, America's Health Literacy: Why We Need Accessible Health Information (PDF), co-authored by researchers from ��Ƶand the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, summarizes key findings and presents some policy implications of health literacy data from the National Assessment of Adult Literacy.

Health Literacy Interventions and Outcomes: A Systematic Review

The 2011 report, Health Literacy Interventions and Outcomes: A Systematic Review (PDF), is an update of a 2004 systematic review of research on healthcare service use and health outcomes related to differences in health literacy level and interventions designed to improve these outcomes for individuals with low health literacy.

Advances in Patient Safety

This AHRQ-published volume of government-sponsored patient safety research includes the following articles related to health literacy.

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