Health Literacy

Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Summarizes key findings and presents some policy implications of the first National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL).

American Medical Association Assessing the nation's health literacy: Key concepts and findings of the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) describes health literacy results from the landmark 2003 NAAL, the nation's most comprehensive measure of adult literacy in more than a decade.

Written by Sheida White, PhD, NAAL Project Officer, and published by the AMA Foundation, this 100-page report will be of interest to clinicians, researchers, educators, insurers, and policy makers in both the health and education fields.

National center for Education Statistics. Health literacy was reported using four performance levels: Below Basic, Basic, Intermediate, and Proficient.

CHCS Center for Health Care StrategiesStatistics for topics such as Impact of Low Health Literacy on Health Care Expenditures. This series of fact sheets was created to help clinicians, patient advocates, and other stakeholders improve care for individuals with low health literacy. The fact sheets define health literacy; describe ways to identify low health literacy; provide strategies to improve print and oral communication for low-literate consumers; provide information about the intersection of health literacy and culture; and highlight key policies relating to health literacy.

Committee on Health Literacy Board of Neurosciences and Behavioral Health (2004)Examines the body of knowledge that applies to the field of health literacy, and recommends actions to promote a health literate society.

The American Medical Association Council on Scientific Affairs asked an ad hoc committee of experts to investigate health literacy; this report outlines their recommendations.
Published in JAMA 1999 Feb 10; 281(6) 552-7.

CDC Expert Panel report (2009) Assesses health literacy issues among older adults and identifies opportunities for health professionals to better meet the health communication needs of older adults.