Health Literacy | Community Health

Health literacy is the capacity to obtain, read, understand, and use healthcare information to make informed health decisions and follow treatment instructions. With multiple definitions, health literacy encompasses both the context in which health information is presented and the skills individuals bring to that situation. According to the [[world-health-organization|World Health Organization]], health literacy is a critical factor in health disparities, affecting approximately 80 million Americans with limited health literacy, as reported by the [[us-department-of-education|US Department of Education]] in the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy. This issue is further complicated by the digital divide, with [[internet-access|internet access]] and [[health-technology|health technology]] playing an increasingly important role in healthcare. The [[cdc|Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] and the [[nih|National Institutes of Health]] are among the organizations working to improve health literacy through initiatives such as the [[health-literacy-toolkit|Health Literacy Toolkit]] developed by the [[ahrq|Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality]].