Resources

This section of the Plain & Simple Web site has resources on initiatives and policies from across the United States. If you know of a resource that has not been included on this list, use the Contact Us link to contribute.

 

State Health Literacy Resources

• Health Literacy Iowa
• Iowa Export Center of Excellence on Health Disparities
• Iowa Healthcare Collaborative Health Literacy Toolkit
• Iowa Pharmacy Health Literacy Improvement Program
• Health Literacy Activities by State from CDC NEW!!

 

National and International Health Literacy Resources

• American Medical Association Foundation
• Canada Public Health Association: Directory of Plain Language Health Information
• Council of State Governments
• Harvard School of Public Health
• Health Literacy: Accurate, Accessible and Actionable Health Information for All NEW!!
• Health Literacy Consulting
• Health Literacy Improvement: Resources from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
• Health Literacy & Plain Language Resource Guide from Health Literacy Innovations
• Literacy Partners of Manitoba
• MAXIMUS Center for Health Literacy
• Medical Library Association
• National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy
• The National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy is based on the principles that (1) everyone has the right to health information that helps them make informed decisions, and (2) health services should be delivered in ways that are understandable and beneficial to health, longevity, and quality of life.
• National Assessment of Adult Literacy  
• National Institutes of Health: List of research projects supported by NIH  
• National Institutes of Health: Plain Language Initiative  
• National Network of Libraries of Medicine: Consumer Health Manual on Health Literacy  
• The Plain Language Initiative: Improving Communication from the Federal Government to the Public  

 

Economic Implications

• The High Cost of Low Health Literacy in Iowa. The cost of low health literacy to Iowa's economy ranges from $2 billion to $4 billion annually. If unchanged, this translates into a cost over 10 years of between $15 billion and $34 billion.
• Low Health Literacy: Implications for National Health Policy. See page 5 of this publication from George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services to learn how low health literacy costs the U.S. economy between $106 billion and $238 billion annually.
• The High Economic Cost of Low Health Literacy in Missouri. First approximations place the order of magnitude of the cost of low health literacy, to the Missouri economy, in the range of $3.3 billion to $7.5 billion annually.
• The High Economic Cost of Low Health Literacy in Wisconsin. First approximations place the order of magnitude of the cost of low health literacy, to the Missouri economy, in the range of $3.4 billion to $7.6 billion annually.
• Health Outcomes Communicator. If the problem is not alleviated, a University of Connecticut study estimates that the future costs of low health literacy will be "$1.6 trillion to $3.6 trillion over the next 30 to 50 years."
• An economic perspective and data for Switzerland.

 

Cultural Competence

• An Introduction to Cultural Competency and Document Creation  
• Cultural Competence in Healthcare: a guide to media resources at the University at Buffalo Health Sciences Library
• Cultural Competence Resources for Health Care Providers: from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration.
• Diversity Rx: from the Drexel University School of Public Health and partners.
• Help Understand Why: from the Kaiser Family Foundation and partners.
• National Center for Cultural Competence
• Provider's Guide to Quality and Culture: from Management Sciences for Health and partners.

 

Special Populations

• Medicaid recipients: National Survey of Medicaid Guidelines for Health Literacy   
• Migrant farmers: National Center for Farmworker Health
• Minorities: Resources from the federal Office of Minority Health
• Native Americans: Indian Health Services White Paper on Health Literacy
• Native Americans: Changing Directions: Strengthening the Shield of Knowledge
• Non-English Speakers: Managing Content on Spanish and Other Language Web Sites
• Older Adults: Improving Health Literacy for Older Adults - Expert Panel Report 2009 from CDC
• Older Adults: Helping Older Adults Search for Health Information Online: A Toolkit for Trainers from the National Institutes of Health.
• Older Adults: Working with Low-Literacy Seniors: Practical Strategies for Health Providers Canadian Public Health Association.
• Older Adults: Quick Guide to Health Literacy and Older Adults, from DHHS
• People with Disabilities: Accessible.org makes accessible web designs for nonprofits, small businesses and government departments.
• Others: Public Health Workbook to Define, Locate and Reach Special, Vulnerable, and At-Risk Populations in an Emergency CDC

 

Blogs, Webcasts, and Newsletters

• 20 Actions You Can Take to Prevent Health Literacy Related Complications podcast with Cindy BrachNEW!!
• Health Literacy: Reducing the Burden of a Complex Healthcare System, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation blog NEW!!
• Engaging the Patient-One Month, One Blog, One Literacy Expert After Another NEW!!
• Literacy Volunteers of New Jersey Health Literacy Summit Webcasts and Presentations
• Focus on Basics is the quarterly publication of the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy.
• ZarcBark: Thinking out loud about public understanding of health and science
• Dr. Christina Cordero discusses health literacy recommendations set forth by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.
• Health Literacy Out Loud - By Helen Osborne
• National Public Health Information Coalition Newsletters>
• Special Health Literacy Issue, September 2009
• Special Health Literacy Issue, September 2010
• Special Health Literacy Issue, September 2011 NEW!!

 

Presentations

• Pictogram Research Project by Gwenda Bond & Barbara Fox  
• Iowa Cultural Competence Workshop by Cindy Brach  
• Iowa Federal Health Literacy Initiatives by Cindy Brach  
• Spring 2007 Workshop by Don McCormick  
• Dispensing Site Pictograms Overview by Laura Ross  
• Communicating Health Information in Plain Language by Naomi Holtz, St. Luke's Regional Medical Center, Sioux City, Iowa (August 2007)  
• The Strategic Relevance of Health Literacy to Health Marketing and Communication Activities by Demetrius M. Parker, CDC  

 

Health Literacy and Plain Language Laws and Advocacy

• National Literacy Act, 1991
• Presidential Memorandum on Plain Language, 1998
• Statement from New Readers of Iowa  

 

Other Resources

• Health Literacy Implications for Health Care Reform: Workshop Summary. Institute of Medicine.
• Facilitating State Health Exchange Communication through the Use of Health Literate Practices, Institute of Medicine.
• Public Health Literacy Defined (American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2009) discusses how public health partners may want to consider a broader definition of health literacy
• A collection of hard copy materials for building a health literacy library.

 

Questions or contributions? Contact Don McCormick at 515-281-6692 or use the Contact Us page to submit your question.

Not on the Plain & Simple mailing list? To subscribe, please send a blank e-mail to join-PlainAndSimple@lists.ia.gov.

 

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Documents denoted by are available in Portable Document Format (.pdf).

Links with a icon indicate resources or web sites that are not part of the Iowa Department of Public Health.

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