Although health literacy is commonly defined as an individual trait, it does not depend on the skills of individuals alone. Health literacy is the product of the interaction between individuals' capacities and the health literacy-related demands and complexities of the health care system. Specifically, the ability to understand, evaluate, and use numbers is important to making informed health care choices.

Health Literacy and Numeracy is the summary of a workshop convened by The Institute of Medicine Roundtable on Health Literacy in July 2013 to discuss topics related to numeracy, including the effects of ill health on cognitive capacity, issues with communication of health information to the public, and communicating numeric information for decision making. This report includes a paper commissioned by the Roundtable, "Numeracy and the Affordable Care Act: Opportunities and Challenges," that discusses research findings about people's numeracy skill levels; the kinds of numeracy skills that are needed to select a health plan, choose treatments, and understand medication instructions; and how providers should communicate with those with low numeracy skills. The paper was featured in the workshop and served as the basis of discussion.

Contents

• THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
• PLANNING COMMITTEE ON HEALTH LITERACY AND NUMERACY
• ROUNDTABLE ON HEALTH LITERACY
• Reviewers
• Acknowledgments
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Overview of Numeracy
  • WHAT IS NUMERACY?: IT'S MORE THAN MATHEMATICS
  • NUMERACY AND THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
  • DISCUSSION
  • IS NUMERACY MORE DIFFICULT WITH POOR HEALTH?: EVIDENCE, EXPERIENCE, AND POSSIBILITIES
  • DISCUSSION
  • REFERENCES
• 3. Numeracy Demands, Assumptions, and Challenges for Consumers
  • OVERCOMING CONSUMER BARRIERS TO SHOPPING FOR HEALTH INSURANCE
  • NUMERACY IN HEALTH CARE: A CLINICIAN'S PERSPECTIVE
  • DISCUSSION
  • REFERENCES
• 4. Numeracy Demands, Assumptions, and Challenges for Communicators
  • NUMERACY AND HEALTH JOURNALISM
  • ISSUES AND CHALLENGES IN THE ERA OF SHARED DECISION MAKING: EXPLAINING RISK AND UNCERTAINTY
  • DISCUSSION
  • REFERENCES
• 5. Strategies for Effective Communication
  • EXAMPLES OF EFFECTIVE DISPLAY OF HEALTH PLAN INFORMATION
  • WHY ARE YOU GIVING ME THIS NUMBER?: COMMUNICATING QUANTITATIVE INFORMATION FOR DECISION MAKING
  • EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATING MEDICATION INSTRUCTIONS
  • DISCUSSION
  • REFERENCES
• APPENDIXES
  • Appendix A Numeracy and the Affordable Care Act: Opportunities and Challenges
  • Appendix B Meeting Agenda
  • Appendix C Speaker Biosketches

Rapporteur: Melissa G. French.

This activity was supported by contracts between the National Academy of Sciences and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (HHSP233200900537P); the American College of Physicians Foundation; America's Health Insurance Plans; the California Dental Association; the East Bay Community Foundation (Kaiser Permanente); Eli Lilly and Company; the Health Resources and Services Administration (HHSH25034004T); Humana; Johnson & Johnson; Merck and Co., Inc.; the North Shore–Long Island Jewish Health System; the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion; and the UnitedHealth Group. The views presented in this publication are those of the rapporteur and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the activity.

Suggested citation:

IOM (Institute of Medicine). 2014. Health Literacy and Numeracy: Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

NOTICE: The workshop that is the subject of this workshop summary was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.