Health Literacy News
Listed here are news and information related to health literacy issues. Please note that some of the links below may take you off the AMA Foundation Web site. A listing here does not indicate endorsement by the AMA Foundation.
News items from AMA sources
Improving health literacy helps diminish disparities
AMNews: June 29, 2009
Functional health literacy in patients with glaucoma in urban settings
Arch Ophthalmol: May 2008
Bill aims to improve health literacy
AMNews: Jan. 21, 2008
Literacy advocates call for drug label uniformity
AMNews: Nov. 19, 2007
New test quickly assesses literacy
AMNews: Jan. 16, 2006
White House Conference on Aging
Proceedings of the Mini-Conference on Health Literacy and Health Disparities, AMA, 2005.
Are patients more at ease when you use familiar words?
AMNews: Jan. 17, 2005.
Low Health Literacy Called a Major Problem,
Brian Vastag. JAMA. 2004;291:2181-2182. May 12, 2004.
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Health literacy: Help your patients understand directions
AMNews: Editorial - May 10, 2004.
Doctors can take steps in their practices to help the 90 million Americans who have trouble comprehending health information.
Low health literacy is pervasive barrier to care
AMNews: April 26, 2004.
Reports on patients' inability to understand health information point up the need for clear physician communication.
Health literacy: Your patients can't follow instructions they don't understand
AMNews: Editorial - June 16, 2003.
Physicians can improve their patients' health outcomes by taking simple steps to improve health literacy.
Patients need clear messages to navigate medicine's maze
AMNews: May 26, 2003.
Experts on health literacy say that condensing medical advice to a few simple instructions may be the best way to reach patients.
Keep it clear and simple for your patients
AMNews: Aug. 5, 2002.
Patients may not understand what doctors are telling them; a CME video helps physicians make sure the message is getting across. Journals and American Medical News
Association of Health Literacy With Diabetes Outcomes.
JAMA, Jul 2002; 288: 475 - 482 Dean Schillinger, Kevin Grumbach, John Piette, Frances Wang, Dennis Osmond, Carolyn Daher, Jorge Palacios, Gabriela Diaz Sullivan, and Andrew B. Bindman
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Communication breakdown
AMNews: Editorial - March 6, 2000.
The implications of poor communication touch nearly every aspect of health care. The AMA has created a number of efforts aimed at improving doctor-patient communication.
Health Information on the Internet: Accessibility, Quality, and Readability in English and Spanish
JAMA, May 2001; 285: 2612 - 2621.
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Pediatricians Reach Out and Read to young patients
AMNews: March 26, 2001.
Supporters say literacy promotion has a place in primary care.
A Multivariate Analysis of Factors Associated With Depression: Evaluating the Role of Health Literacy as a Potential Contributor
Arch Intern Med. 160;3307-3314, Nov. 27, 2000, Julie Gazmararian.
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(Free abstract available)
Use of a Low-Literacy Patient Education Tool to Enhance Pneumococcal Vaccination Rates: A Randomized Controlled Trial
JAMA, Aug 1999; 282: 646 - 650. Terry A. Jacobson, Donna M. Thomas, Felicia James Morton, Gardiner Offutt, Jennifer Shevlin, and Susan Ray
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Why Literacy Matters: Links Between Reading Ability and Health
Arch Ophthalmol. 117;100-103, January 1999, Why Literacy Matters: Links Between Reading Ability and Health, Paul P. Lee, MD, JD
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Health Literacy Among Medicare Enrollees in a Managed Care Organization
JAMA. 281;545-551, Feb. 10, 1999, Health Literacy Among Medicare Enrollees in a Managed Care Organization, Julie A. Gazmararian, MPH, PhD; David W. Baker, MD, MPH; Mark V. Williams, MD; Ruth M. Pa
(Free abstract available)
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Health Literacy: Report of the Council on Scientific Affairs
JAMA, Feb. 10, 1999. Vol 281, No. 6
Missed messages
AMNews: editorial, July 20, 1998
Millions of patients lack the literacy skills to fully understand their illnesses and treatment plans The doctor explains. The patient nods. The problem is, does the patient really understand what the doctor is saying about the diagnosis and treatment plan? In very many cases the answer is no.
Relationship of Functional Health Literacy to Patients' Knowledge of Their Chronic Disease: A Study of Patients With Hypertension and Diabetes
Arch Intern Med. 158;166-172, Jan. 26, 1998, Relationship of Functional Health Literacy to Patients' Knowledge of Their Chronic Disease: A Study of Patients With Hypertension and Diabetes, Mark V.
(Free abstract available)
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News items from non-AMA sources
More than half can't find heart on body diagram
CNN Health, June 15, 2009
Do You Know What Your Doctor Is Talking About?
New York Times: April 2, 2009
Doctors Often Overestimate Patients' Health Literacy
US News & World Report, Oct. 17, 2008
Nearly half of health journalists not familiar with health literacy
Science Centric, Aug. 24, 2008
Consent Forms That Patients Can Understand
Wall Street Journal, Feb. 6, 2008
Talking Points: Making the Most of Doctor Visits
Wall Street Journal, Oct. 31, 2007
Literacy can be a matter of life and death; Millions can't process health data
Chicago Tribune, Sept. 25, 2007
Following Doctor’s Orders Isn’t Hard, if You Can Read
New York Times: July 24, 2007
What You Can't Read Can Kill You; Low Health Literacy Can Spell Death for the Elderly
ABC News, By Katharine Stoel Gammon, July 24, 2007
What Did the Doctor Say?: Improving Health Literacy to Protect Patient Safety
The Joint Commission. Feb. 7, 2007. This white paper outlines the communications gap between patients and caregivers as a series of challenges involving literacy, language, and culture, and suggests steps on how to close this gap.
The Importance of Knowing What the Doctor Is Talking About
New York Times: January 30, 2007.
Drug labels spell trouble for patients
MedPage Today: November 30, 2006
Study finds that even patients with high literacy can have trouble deciphering medicine label instructions
Navigating Healthcare: Both educators and medical professionals have roles to play in making healthcare more accessible to all
Focus on Basics: Vol. 8, Issue C, November 2006, Jennie E. Anderson & Rima Rudd
A National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy research team conducted activities to understand and document what makes healthcare facilities difficult to navigate and to highlight unnecessary barriers.
Improving Patient Safety Through Informed Consent for Patients with Limited Health Literacy
National Quality Forum, Sept. 2005
NQF published a report on the implementation of Safe Practice 10, which focuses on informed consent and patient safety.
The Health Literacy Consulting Web site features several articles
Doctors have prescription for peace of mind
St. Petersburg Times: Feb. 15, 2005
A program called Information Rx is being piloted in several Florida counties and serves as an example of a health literacy tool that providers can use to address patients' low health literacy.
Institute of Medicine Report on Health Literacy Released
Institute of Medicine, 2004.
IOM has released "Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion". Among the findings are that 90 million Americans are burdened with inadequate health literacy skills.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Report on Health Literacy Released
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2004.
This report, titled "Literacy and Health Outcomes",supports that there is a relationship between low reading skill and poor health.
