Health literacy is “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.” (DHHS, 2000)
When people understand health information they are able to:
Easily understand information the first time they read or hear it
Use the information to make decisions about their health
Make good choices about their lifestyle and health care
For health professionals, addressing health literacy is key to the success of:
Health care organizations’ quality and value-based payment program metrics
Public health communications
Health education and promotion programs
Population health management strategies
Who we are?
We are a multidisciplinary team of expert health literacy researchers, consultants, and practitioners dedicated to improving society and population health by making health information easy to understand and use. We provide services to individuals and organizations across the globe who communicate health information with patients and the public. Evidence-based best practices inform all that we do at UAMS CHL. Our nationally recognized, award-winning team includes experts in:
Health communication
Health education
Healthcare ethics
Spanish language interpreting and translation
Community health
What do we do?
To achieve our mission we focus on four main objectives:
Empirical and theoretical research to better understand health literacy, how it contributes to health outcomes, and evidence for how to improve it.
Health literacy services for healthcare providers and other professionals to address the critical need of closing the gap between the level of written health information and individuals’ abilities to understand and act on it.
Promoting, through training and consultation, health literacy best practices for providers, organizations, and systems.
Implementing policy initiatives to fully address health literacy across an entire organization.
