Health literacy means being able to find, understand, and use health information to make good health decisions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says it also includes how well healthcare groups provide information that patients can understand.
When people have low health literacy, they often have worse health, go to the hospital more, use less preventive care, and spend more on healthcare. The Healthy People 2030 program says health literacy is about individual skills and how health systems support patients.
Groups like low-income people, older adults, those on Medicaid or Medicare, and racial and ethnic minorities usually face more problems with health literacy. For example, Latino, Black, and American Indian or Alaska Native groups often have lower health literacy. Language and cultural differences make it harder to communicate, which lowers trust and causes less use of preventive care.
Health leaders should make communication and services that consider these problems and aim for fair access to care.
Health leaders should use simple language in all health materials. Medical words can be confusing, which leads to misunderstandings and patients not following treatment plans correctly. Testing materials with different patient groups helps make sure they understand.
Also, talks between doctors and patients should include education that respects culture. Healthcare workers trained to understand different cultures can explain health information using patient values and beliefs.
About 25 million people in the U.S. do not speak English well. They often face the same problems as people with low health literacy, like delays in care and less use of preventive health services.
Health organizations that get federal money must provide translation and interpretation services under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Following standards like the CLAS helps meet language needs and leads to better health results.
Digital health tools, like websites and telehealth, are used more now to give information and care. These must be easy for people with disabilities or older people who use assistive devices. Making these tools simple for everyone helps many kinds of users.
Almost 21 million Americans do not have high-speed internet. So, health technology must also cover people without internet access. Alternatives like phone services and help from local groups can help close this gap.
Training doctors and staff about health literacy helps them talk better with patients and get them more involved in their care. Methods like motivational interviewing encourage patients to take part in decisions and care for themselves.
Training about cultural differences is important since patients come from many backgrounds. Staff who understand this can build better trust and help patients follow medical advice.
Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) are the conditions where people live, work, learn, and play. These include things like safe homes, education, income, healthy food, transportation, and language skills. SDOH cause many health differences in communities in the United States.
Healthy People 2030 groups SDOH into five areas:
Health leaders should understand how SDOH affect patients’ ability to get and use health information. For example, people in poor neighborhoods may have problems like no transport, lack of food, or less health education. This affects how they follow health advice.
Working with local groups and social services can help patients get needed resources. Screening for social needs during visits finds patients who need more help and allows for better support, which leads to better health.
Health differences in mothers and children are clear, especially for low-income and minority women. For example, in 2021, the death rate for non-Hispanic Black mothers was 69.9 per 100,000 births. This is about 2.6 times higher than for non-Hispanic White mothers.
Telehealth helps reduce these differences by removing problems like distance and lack of transport. It lets pregnant women get care before and after birth more easily. Remote monitoring of conditions like high blood pressure can find problems early and improve care.
But not everyone has internet or knows how to use digital tools well. Many people struggle with technology needed for telehealth. Teaching digital skills and improving internet access are needed to make telehealth fair for all.
Partnering with local groups to give technology and training helps patients use digital health tools confidently.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and workflow automation can help make health literacy and access better. AI tools like virtual assistants, chatbots, and automated phones help with front-desk tasks and patient communication.
AI phone systems can do tasks like scheduling appointments, sending reminders, giving basic health info, and asking about health literacy or social needs. They work all day and night, reducing wait times and freeing staff to focus on patients.
Examples like Simbo AI use AI to improve phone communication and reduce missed calls. These systems answer patient questions clearly, helping those who find phone menus or language hard to use.
AI can create health materials based on a patient’s age, language, and reading level. Personalized messages help patients understand their health better and follow care instructions more closely.
Virtual assistants using natural language processing guide patients through telehealth and online portals step-by-step. They answer questions in simple words and can translate when needed. This helps patients who are new to technology and makes using digital health easier.
Automation helps gather social need information before visits using online or phone questionnaires. AI can spot patients who need extra help with health literacy or social challenges, then connect them to extra services like case managers or local resources.
To make real progress, improving health literacy needs support from laws and healthcare organizations that promote fair access.
Policies that help expand internet, pay for telehealth, and support language access reduce differences caused by technology and communication problems.
Healthcare groups should always expect patients might have trouble understanding health information. This means using methods like teach-back, simpler consent forms, and asking patients for feedback.
Leaders in healthcare must build places that offer culturally and language-appropriate services, meet social needs, and use technology carefully to lower barriers.
Medical practices in the U.S. must improve health literacy for diverse and underserved groups. Low health literacy leads to worse health and less access to care, especially for racial and ethnic minorities, older adults, low-income people, and those with limited English.
Ways to improve health literacy include using simple language, giving translated and culturally fitting materials, training healthcare staff well, addressing social needs, and expanding telehealth services to match patient needs.
AI and automation help with patient communication, making information match the patient better and closing digital gaps.
Healthcare leaders, owners, and IT managers who focus on these areas can reduce health differences, improve care access, and help patient health while supporting national goals like those in Healthy People 2030.
Health literacy is the degree to which individuals can obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services to make informed health decisions.
Only 14% of the U.S. population has proficient health literacy, impacting their ability to make informed decisions about health, especially highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The office aims to reduce health disparities, educate healthcare providers, and attract diverse healthcare workers.
Personal health literacy is the capacity individuals have to obtain and understand needed health information and services.
Organizational health literacy is the responsibility of institutions to provide the public with accessible information and services for informed health decisions.
This initiative updated the definition of health literacy, emphasizing that organizations must promote health literacy to improve healthcare utilization and outcomes.
Improving health literacy can enhance the use of preventive services and routine healthcare visits, thereby potentially reducing hospitalization and medical expenses.
AI can be harnessed to enhance health literacy by providing personalized health information and improving access to health services.
Low health literacy contributes to healthcare disparities, making it difficult for underserved populations to access and understand health information.
Stakeholders can collaborate to promote awareness, create health education programs, and utilize technology to enhance the accessibility of health information.
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