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Health Literacy

Resources to help staff learn about and promote health literacy.

What is 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 listSome 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 March 2025]
2. Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario. Facilitating Client Centred Learning. Clinical Best PracticeGuidelines. Toronto: Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario; 2012. Available from https://rnao.ca/sites/rnao-ca/files/BPG_CCL_2012_FA.pdf  [Accessed March 2025]
3. Nielsen-Bohlman, L., Panzer, A. & Kindig, D. (Eds.). Health Literacy: A prescription to end confusion. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; 2004. Available from https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10883/health-literacy-a-prescription-to-end-confusion [Accessed March 2025]

Health Literacy 101

Library Books

Daily PubMed Alert - Health Literacy in Oncology

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.



 The BC Cancer library system consists of a central library at Vancouver Centre, and branches in Abbotsford, Kelowna, Prince George, and Victoria where both patient and professional collections are available on site. Librarian staff are available at all centres, including Surrey.