From Margin To Mainstream: The Top 5 Reasons Health Literacy Should Be Healthcare's Next Priority
Health literacy in America might finally be at a tipping point. Beginning with the Health and Human Services National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy in 2010, subsequent federal initiatives have continued to put health literacy in the spotlight.
More than just the ability to read, health literacy is defined as one’s ability to obtain, understand and use health information to make appropriate health decisions.
According to Dr. Koh, Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, if 88 percent of adults are not proficient in health literacy, then people are not the problem; the problem is the healthcare system. 1 If this is indeed the case, then the system can be redesigned to accommodate the unpredictability of limited health literacy skills.
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