Health Literacy

What is Health Literacy?

Health literacy is the knowledge and skills people use to manage their health. People use health literacy skills in many everyday life situations such as:

• Reading food labels
• Choosing healthy foods
• Pouring the right amount of liquid medicine
• Making vaccine decisions for children
• Understanding risks in emergency situations

Health literacy skills can vary based on many things such as:

• Stress levels
• Personal Experiences
• Limited English proficiency
• Communication skills of doctors and other medical staff
• Changing environments
• Complex paperwork or situations
• Cultural beliefs and expectations
• New challenges
• Financial resources
• Age

How Can I Increase my Health Literacy?

Fortunately, people can learn health literacy skills to help them make health decisions. Anyone in the community who wants to improve their health literacy may find the following tip sheets helpful:

• Health Literacy Tips Anyone Can Use
• Health Literacy Tips for Doctor Appointments

Community health literacy classes are also available. These hour-long classes help people with the skills and knowledge needed for a successful medical appointment and are provided by department of health staff through the Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative. Contact your local library or contact us to request a class.

Health professionals who are interested in helping their patients achieve better health literacy may find the following tip sheet helpful:

• How Health Professionals Can Ensure Action After Patient Education
• Health Literacy Toolkit for Organizations Serving Non-English-Speaking Patients

Where Can I Find More Information?

• National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy from Healthy People 2030
• 10 Attributes of a Health Literate Health Care Organization from the Institute of Medicine’s Roundtable on Health Literacy