Health Literacy

CHE

303

Health Literacy

This course explores the relationship between health and literacy is essential to development of effective health communication. National assessments of adult literacy have raised serious concerns about the ability of nearly half the adult population in the U.S. to access and use health information and services. Low health literacy is a barrier to effective health communication, affects health care quality and contributes to health disparities. To address these issues the Institute of Medicine calls for increasing “knowledge, awareness, and responsiveness to health literacy among health service providers.” The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends that health service providers be trained in health literacy, plain language, and culturally and linguistically appropriate services and use those skills to create patient- centered best practices (DHHS, 2010). This course explores the links between health literacy, language, and culture and how systems barriers impact access to health information and quality health care services. Students practice writing and speaking in plain language and consider how to apply health literacy research to practice. The course provides an overview of health literacy interventions being tried in a variety of sectors and explores opportunities for collaboration across fields.

Undergraduate

Yes