United States Health Literacy Policy and Models

California Literacy, Inc., makes no claim as to the accuracy of the information provided in the California Health Literacy Initiative Health Literacy Resource Center.

National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL)
Through print, electronic, and face-to-face communication, NCSALL ensures that its research results
reach practitioners, administrators, policymakers, and scholars. By providing these varied formats,
NCSALL offers an accessible, timely, and valuable source of pertinent information for the field of adult
literacy education. All materials except The Annual Review of Adult Learning and Literacy are available
to download. Order online for printed copies of any NCSALL publications, including The Annual Review
of Adult Learning and Literacy.
http://ncsall.gse.harvard.edu/publication.html

Literacy, Health and Health Literacy: State Policy Considerations
In this article Marcia Drew Hohn provides an overview of the five strategies worth considering when
contemplating how to engage with literacy and health issues.
http://ncsall.gse.harvard.edu/fob/2002/hohn.html

United States Health and Human Services: The Plain Language Initiative
This initiative requires the use of plain language in all new documents written for the public, other
government entities and fellow workers.
http://execsec.od.nih.gov/plainlang/intro.html

State Models

California Literacy, Inc.: California Health Literacy Initiative
The goal of the California Health Literacy Initiative is to inform and partner with individuals and
organizations to positively impact the health and well being of individuals with low literacy
skills, their families, and their communities.
http://www.cahealthliteracy.org

Florida: Adult Education Practitioner’s Task Force
Curriculum framework and student performance standards are being developed to encourage teachers to incorporate health information into other subject areas. An emphasis has been placed on the partnerships between the health care industry and educators. Health brochures were developed through a Florida Department of Education grant to Leon County Schools Adult & Community Education in cooperation with the Florida Adult Basic Education Practitioners' Committee. The brochures are designed for individuals with limited literacy skills in an effort to provide information on the health topics at a level understandable to the individual.
http://www.abeflorida.org/health.htm

Georgia: Health Literacy Pilot Sites
The Georgia Health Literacy Pilot Project established health literacy sites throughout the state that
hold health literacy classes. Educational information and public health concerns are included in the
curriculum.
http://www.dtae.org/annualreport2003/adultliteracy.html

Louisiana: A Curriculum Guide for Adult Literacy Classes
This guide was developed to complement the textbook What To Do When Your Child Gets Sick,
published by The Institute for Healthcare Advancement. Lessons are self-contained and relevant to
the students’ lives, such as treating ear infections and getting all the required immunizations, as
well as how to navigate the health care system.
http://www.iha4health.org/healthlit_curriculum.html

Texas: The El Paso Community College/Community Education Program
The El Paso Community College/Community Education Program has created a health literacy
curriculum for adult learners. The lessons were developed to meet the health and education needs
of its students.
http://www.worlded.org/us/health/docs/elpaso/index.htm#health

Utah: University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics, Patient Education Materials
The University of Utah has outlined guidelines for Patient Education. The overall purpose is to insure that the patient and, when appropriate, his or her significant other(s) are provided with education to enhance knowledge, skills, and behavior change.
http://www.med.utah.edu/pated/

Virginia: University of Virginia, Building a Health Literacy Curriculum
The content in this site is intended to help instructors develop their own Health Literacy curriculum at their particular institution.
http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/som-hlc/home.cfm

Virginia: Charlottesville Public Schools ESL Health Curriculum
This 10-unit multi-level curriculum focuses on developing civic awareness and participation with regard
to health. It is committed to being student-generated and therefore reliant upon student input.
http://www.charlottesville-esl.org/healthcurriculum.htm

Health Literacy Policy: Publications

Gazmararian, J.A., Baker, D.W., Williams, M.V., Parker, R.M., Scott, T.L., Green, D.C.,
Fehrenbach, S.N., Ren, J., Koplan, J.P. (1999). Journal of the American Medical Association,
281. 545-51.
This article reports findings of a study measuring health literacy of elderly Medicare
enrollees in a managed care organization using the Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults

Health literacy: report of the Council on Scientific Affairs.
(1999). Journal of the American Medical
Association, 281. 552-557.
This article emphasizes the importance of health literacy awareness and makes recommendations adopted as AMA policy.

Hohn, M.D. (2002). Literacy, health and health literacy: State and policy considerations, focus
on basics. Health and Literacy.
In this article, Hohn provides an overview of the five strategies worth considering when contemplating
how to engage with literacy and health issues.
http://ncsall.gse.harvard.edu/fob/2002/hohn.html

Kaplan, S.A., Greene, J., Molnar, C., Bernstein, A., & Ghanbarpour, S. Educating medicaid
beneficiaries about managed care: Approaches in 13 cities. The Commonwealth Fund.
This article covers a review of Medicaid managed care educational efforts that was conducted
in 13 cities across the country. The intent of the study is to help policymakers develop and sustain
programs that will teach beneficiaries to understand, use, and benefit from Medicaid managed care.
http://www.cmwf.org/programs/quality/kaplan_educat_fr_380.pdf.

Kiefer, K. (2001). Health literacy: Responding to the need for help. Center for Medicare Education.
This article provides an in-depth discussion of health literacy including its impact on the Medicare
enrollment process. Recommendations include assessment of health literacy skills by healthcare
providers, one-on-one and group assistance, visual tools, and training programs. Funding
opportunities for these types of programs are also discussed.
http://www.medicareed.org/content/CMEPubDocs/Health_Literacy_Report_Feb2001.pdf

Kilker, K. (2000). Considering Health Literacy. Center for Medicare Education, 1.
This article provides a brief overview of health literacy, its definition, the effect of low health literacy
on Medicare and Medicaid populations, and the costs associated with low health literacy.
Examples of programs that address this problem are provided.

Kirsch, I.S., Jungebut, A., Jenkins L., & Kolstad, A. (1993). Adult Literacy in America: A First Look
at the Results of the National Adult Literacy Survey. Washington, D.C.: National Center for
Education Statistics, United States Department of Education.

Root, J., & Stableford, S. (1999). Easy-to-read consumer communications: A missing link in
Medicaid managed care. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 24. 1-26.
This article highlights the Maine Area Health Education Center Health Literacy Center's efforts
to educate Medicaid patients with easy-to-read materials. The center sponsored three national
skills training workshops titled "Writing for the Medicaid Market."

Shutan, B. (2001). ABCs of Health Care: Educational campaigns are afoot to improve patient
understanding and save on unnecessary care and costs. Risk & Insurance, 12.
In this article, the health literacy efforts of various organizations such as the AMA, Pfizer Inc., risk management company FutureHealth Corp., and medical management company Intracorp
are examined.

National Literacy Act (1991).
http://www.nifl.gov/public-law.html

Williams, M.V., Parker, R.M., Baker, D.W., Parikh, N.S., Pitkin, K., Coates, W.C., & Nurss,
J.R. (1995). Inadequate functional health literacy among patients at two public hospitals. Journal
of the American Medical Association, 274. 1677-1682.