Excerpt

On September 7, 2006, Acting Surgeon General Kenneth Moritsugu held a Surgeon General’s Workshop on Improving Health Literacy. The goal of the workshop was to present the state of the science in the field of health literacy from a variety of perspectives, including those of health care organizations and providers, the research community, and educators. During the course of the one-day workshop, participants identified the public health consequences of limited health literacy and established an evidence base for taking action.

Contents

• Executive Summary
• Introduction
• Workshop Proceedings
• Panel 1: Health Literacy, Literacy, and Health Outcomes
  • The National Assessment of Adult Literacy: Health Literacy Results
  • Functional Health Literacy: Health Information in Everyday Life
  • Literacy, Chronic Disease Care, and Public Healthcare Systems: A Focus on Communication
  • The Associations Between Health Literacy and Health Outcomes: Self-Reported Health, Hospitalization, and Mortality
  • Interventions to Improve Health Outcomes for Patients with Low Literacy
  • Discussion: Panel 1
• Panel 2: Meeting the Health Literacy Needs of Special Populations
  • Lost in Translation: Language Barriers, Literacy, Communication, and Quality in Health Care
  • A Call to Action: The Role of Health Literacy in Reducing Health Disparities
  • Meeting the Health Literacy Needs of Older Adults
  • Meeting the Health Literacy Needs of Young Children
  • Discussion: Panel 2
• Panel 3: Toward an Informed and Engaged Public
  • Both Health Literacy and Patient Activation Contribute to Consumers’ Ability to Manage Their Health
  • Advancing Health Literacy: A Framework for Understanding and Action
  • Toward an Informed Public: A Communication Perspective
  • Translating Health Literacy Research into Large Scale Public Action
  • Discussion: Panel 3
• Discussion: Creating a Vision for the Future
  • Health Literacy Standards
  • Areas for Future Research
  • Working with School Systems to Address Health Literacy
• Closing and Action Steps
• References
• Appendix A Speaker Biographies
• Appendix B Participant List
• Appendix C Acknowledgements