Health Literacy Resources

By Anonymous

PUBLICATIONS

* The Health Literacy Environment of Hospitals and Health Centers, Partners for Action: Making Your Healthcare Facility Literacy-Friendly, by Rima E. Rudd, Sc.D., Principal Investigator, and Jennie E. Anderson, Coordinator, Health Literacy Studies, Harvard School of Public Health, National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy, Boston. This guidebook can be downloaded free of charge at www.ncsall.net.

* Promising Practices for Patient-Centered Communication with Vulnerable Populations: Examples from Eight Hospitals, by Matthew Wynia, M.D., and Jennifer Matiasek, from The Commonwealth Fund, New York, N.Y., available at www.cmwf.org.

* Improving Communication-Improving Care, An Ethical Force Program Consensus Report, from the American Medical Association and the Health Research & Educational Trust, Chicago, available at www.amaassn.org/ama/Dub/categorv/16245.html.

* What Did the Doctor Say? Improving Health Literacy to Protect Patient Safety, a white paper from the Joint Commission, Oakbrook Terrace, III., available at www.iointcommission.org.

* Hospitals, Language and Culture: A Snapshot of the Nation, Compiled List of Resources, from the Joint Commission, Oakbrook Terrace, III., available at www.Jointcommission.org.

* Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion from the Institute of Medicine, April 2004. Find the report at www.iom.edu/ CMS/3775/3827/19723.aspx and order it through the National Academy Press at www.nap.edu.

TOOLKIT

An organizational self-assessment toolkit on patientcentered communication will be available from the American Medical Association’s Ethical Force Program in Summer 2007, designed to provide health care organizations with specific recommendations on where to focus their health literacy quality improvement initiatives. Produced in collaboration with HRET, with funding from The California Endowment, the Connecticut Health Foundation and the AMA Foundation, the toolkit’s release date and ordering information can be tracked at www.EthicalForce.org.

WEB SITES

* For a broad listing of many health care literacy topics, go to www.hsph.harvard.edu/healthliteracv. In addition to an extensive bibliography of the literature in the field, the site comprises health literacy materials, advice on how to create and assess written patient materials for easy readability and understanding, health literacy research and policy reports, curricula for adult education programs, medical and public health curricula and a wide- ranging list of related Web links.

* “Ask Me 3.” Go to www.AskMe3.org to learn the three most important questions that patients should ask their doctors, and how health care professionals should respond. “Ask Me 3″ is sponsored by the Partnership for Clear Health Communication, Washington, D.C., a group of national, nonprofit corporations working to build awareness of and advance solutions to improve health literacy and positively affect health outcomes.

* Pfizer’s Prevalence Calculator allows organizations to learn the percentage of patients in a given geographic area who may have limited health literacy. Calculate by city and state levels at: www.Dfizerhealthliteracv.org/ Dublic-policv-researchers/prevalence- calculator.html.

* Learn adult literacy estimates for a given service population at: www.casas.org/lit/litcode/search.cfm.

* see all the American Medical Association Foundation’s health literacy materials, including definitions, at www.ama-assn.org/ama/ pub/categorv/8115.html.

Copyright Health Forum Inc. May 2007

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