Continuing Medical Education Courses
Fact Sheet
The State of Health Literacy in America
Health literacy affects our ability to understand and process information regarding health, including what type of health plan we should choose, decoding dosage information, following instructions prior to or following a medical procedure, and understanding the treatment options provided by healthcare professionals. Obviously, people with limited literacy skills are at a tremendous disadvantage. Key points include
• Americans are more educated today than at any time in our history. According to the 1993 National Adult Literacy Survey, the average U.S. adult is educated above the twelfth-grade level. However, educational level does not necessarily translate into an equivalent level of reading comprehension or fluency.
• Twenty-two percent of the 13,600 adults surveyed for the National Adult Literacy Survey struggle with such tasks as locating the expiration date on a driver's license or determining the location of a meeting on a form.
• In the largest study of health literacy to date, one third of English-speaking patients at two public hospitals were unable to read basic health materials. Forty-two percent of patients could not comprehend directions for taking medication on an empty stomach; 26% were unable to understand information on an appointment slip; 43% did not understand the rights and responsibilities section of a Medicaid application; and 60% did not understand a standard informed consent document.
• A recent study of community-dwelling and Medicare managed-care patients in four cities found that 34% of the English speaking and 54% of the Spanish-speaking patients had inadequate or marginal health literacy.
The Institute of Medicine, in its recent book, Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion , cites a definition of health literacy from Healthy People 2010 : "The degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions" (Ratzan and Parker, 2000). Health literacy, therefore, can be seen as the ability of an individual to understand information given to them by healthcare providers, educational materials accompanying over-the-counter medications, or prescription bottle labels, and the ability to process this information to care for themselves or those under their care, and to access the healthcare system in an appropriate and responsible manner.
Compiled by
The University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine Office of Continuing Medical Education
August 2005
Contact: Lea Anne Law, CME Director, 865-305-6378, LLaw@tennessee.edu
If you would like information about the health literacy and communications issues conference, "Soul Speak: Plain Talk about Health Literacy and the Physician-Patient Partnership," Feb. 8-11, 2006, Jackson Hole , Wyoming , please contact Laura Maples, 865-305-6379, LHMaples@mc.utmck.edu
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