websites - online videos

American College of Physicians Foundation –http://www.foundation.acponline.org/index.htm
Health Tips, Medication Labeling, Diabetes Guide, Health Literacy Resource links, and a short, 6 & ½ minutes, video highlighting some of the issues of health literacy and patients safety – especially regarding medication adherence.

Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality –

Literacy and Health Outcomes

Summary - http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/epcsums/litsum.pdf

Full Report - http://www.ahrq.gov/downloads/pub/evidence/pdf/literacy/literacy.pdf

“… Systematic review consolidates and analyzes the body of literature that has been produced… regarding the relationship between literacy and health outcomes and the evidence about interventions intended to improve the health of people with low literacy.”

American Medical Association Foundation  

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/8115.html

The AMA Foundations’s campaign to increase awareness of health literacy issues within the medical community.  Includes streaming videos, toolkits, links to literacy news and other resources. 

California Health Literacy Initiative

 http://cahealthliteracy.org/

 “The goal of the California Health Literacy Initiative is to inform and partner with individuals and organizations to craft collective, lasting solutions which will positively impact the health and well-being of individuals with low-literacy skills, their families, and their communities.”  

Harvard School of Public Health - Health Literacy Studies

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/healthliteracy/

Department of Health Literacy studies has designed this website “for professionals in health and education who are interested in health literacy”  Their efforts are aimed at reducing health disparities.  It contains links to materials useful for this work including assessment tools, reports, information on research and policy, videos, training materials, and more.

Health Resources & Services Administration - Health Literacy

http://www.hrsa.gov/healthliteracy/

An agency within the US Department of Health & Human Services that seeks to improve access to health care for the uninsured, isolated or vulnerable, HRSA has collected a number of resources to help with addressing this problem, including information for patients, and for health care providers.

Improving Health Literacy to Protect Patient Safety http://www.jointcommission.org/NewsRoom/PressKits/Health_Literacy/

The Joint Commission addresses health information literacy as a patient safety issue.  Their website includes streaming videos, a link to their 2007 White Paper, “What did the Doctor Say,” statements, reports, suggestions for actions, and many other resources.

Institute for Healthcare Advancement –

Health Education Literacy Program http://www.iha4health.org/index.cfm/MenuItemID/125.htm

IHA’s HELP, or Health Education Literacy Program addresses both issues of lack of basic reading, listening, and speaking skills in English, as well as that of navigating through the healthcare system, through the provision of a specific curriculum.  The site also provides extensive background on illiteracy and its impact on health, and links to many other resources.

Institute of Medicine - Health Literacy Related Resources & Links

http://www.iom.edu/CMS/3775/3827/15441.aspx

The Institute of Medicine collection of links to national, government, university, and international resources, including reports, programs, tools, bibliographies, and more.

National Center for Education Statistics http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006483

The Health Literacy of America’s Adults: Results from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy.

National Institute for Literacy

http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/facts/health.html

Health literacy facts and statistics.

North Carolina Institute of Medicine's - Just What Did the Doctor Order?: Addressing Low Health Literacy in North Carolina  

http://www.nciom.org/projects/health_literacy/literacy.html

The 2007 report from the NC IOM Health Literacy Task Force.