A service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine 
National Institutes of Health
Health Literacy
Health literacy is the ability to understand health information and to use that information to make good decisions about your health and medical care. Health information can overwhelm even people with advanced literacy skills. About one third of the adult population in the United States has limited health literacy.
Limited health literacy can affect your ability to
- Fill out complex forms
- Locate providers and services
- Share personal information such as health history
- Take care of yourself
- Manage a chronic disease
- Understand how to take medicines
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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Start Here
- Health Literacy Basics(Dept. of Health and Human Services)
The top row in the table of contents box contains the following groups:
Basics
,
Learn More
, and
Multimedia & Cool Tools
.
For group Learn More
For group Multimedia & Cool Tools
The bottom row in the table of contents box contains the following groups:
Research
,
Reference Shelf
, and
For You
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For group Research
For group Reference Shelf
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Overviews
- Call to Action to Improve Health Literacy(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- Health Literacy and Health Outcomes(Dept. of Health and Human Services)
- Improving Your Health Literacy(Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)
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Treatment
- How to Create a Pill Card(Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)
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Specific Conditions
- Deciphering Medspeak: Medspeak Terms(Medical Library Association)
- Also available in Spanish
- Deciphering Medspeak: Rx Riddles Solved(Medical Library Association)
- Understanding Medical Terms(Merck & Co., Inc.)
- Understanding the Language of Medicine(InteliHealth, Harvard Medical School)
- What Your Doctor Is Saying(InteliHealth, Harvard Medical School)
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Related Issues
- Figuring Out Health News(Nemours Foundation)
- Also available in Spanish
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Health Check Tools
- Question Builder(Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)
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Tutorials
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Understanding Medical Words: A Tutorial from the National Library of Medicine(National Library of Medicine)
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Understanding Medical Words: A Tutorial from the National Library of Medicine
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Clinical Trials
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Health Literacy(National Institutes of Health)
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Health Literacy
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Research
- Low Health Literacy Linked to Higher Risk of Death and More Emergency Room Visits and Hospitalizations(Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)
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Journal Articles
References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Working to improve health literacy.
- Article: A study of the health literacy needs of people with...
- Article: Major initiatives related to childhood obesity and physical inactivity in...
- Health Literacy -- see more articles
- MEDLINE/PubMed Search and Health Literacy Information Resources -- see more articles
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Dictionaries/Glossaries
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Some Common Abbreviations(National Library of Medicine)
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Word Parts and What They Mean(National Library of Medicine)
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Some Common Abbreviations
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Organizations
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Statistics
- Health Literacy of America's Adults: Results from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy(Dept. of Education)
- Health Literacy: Statistics at a Glance(National Patient Safety Foundation) - PDF
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Children
- What Kids Say about: Their Health(Nemours Foundation)
- Word! A Glossary of Medical Words(Nemours Foundation)
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Seniors
- Quick Guide to Health Literacy for Older Adults(Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion)
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