It received immediate support, and in the year and a half that has followed, health professionals, literacy practitioners, academicians, and adult learners from the US, Canada, and Australia have worked together to make Health Literacy Month a reality. The most significant outcome to date has been the Health Literacy Toolbox 2000 Web site. This is a collection of online resources that can be used to promote the need for understandable health information. What Health Literacy Is Health literacy is defined by the National Library of Medicine as the degree to which people can obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services they need to make appropriate health decisions. But this definition is only a starting point.
Health literacy is about the entire process of exchanging healthcare information.
It is not just about reading and writing. It is also about how people communicate about health through speaking or drawing pictures. And it is about using such technology as videotapes, audiotapes, or Web sites. Why Health Literacy Is Important The National Academy on an Aging Society reports that over 90 million adults with low health literacy skills have limited ability to read and understand the instructions contained on prescriptions or medicine bottles, appointment slips, informed consent documents, insurance forms, and health educational materials. . . Talk with your patients.