Health Literacy

Health literacy is “how well a person can get the health information and services that they need, how well they understand them, and using them to make good health decisions.”¹

“Health literacy is more than being able to read health information and complete medical forms. Even people with strong literacy skills may not be able to cope with the demands of learning in the health care context, especially when they are made more vulnerable by poor health.”^{2, 3}

The BC Cancer Health Literacy Fact sheet for staff is a great primer.

For a printable list of staff resources, please see the Health literacy resources list. Some of the resources listed can also be accessed on this guide.

References

1. Medline Plus – Health literacy. Available from: https://medlineplus.gov/healthliteracy.html [Accessed September 2018]

2. Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario. Facilitating Client Centred Learning. Clinical Best PracticeGuidelines. Toronto: Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario; 2012.

3. Nielsen-Bohlman, L., Panzer, A. & Kindig, D. (Eds.). Health Literacy: A prescription to end confusion. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; 2004.

Below are the 5 most recently indexed articles on this topic in PubMed. For more, see the PubMed search on health literacy and oncology. 
Results are displayed by entry date indexed, which can differ from publication date.