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.

Some of the links below will take you off the AMA Web site. The AMA is not responsible for the content of other Web sites.

Resources from the AMA

Functional health literacy in patients with glaucoma in urban settings
Arch Ophthalmol: May 2008

Literacy advocates call for drug label uniformity 
AMNews: Nov. 19, 2007

Literacy can be a matter of life and death; Millions can't process health data
Chicago Tribune, Sept. 25, 2007

New test quickly assesses literacy
AMNews: Jan. 16, 2006.

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.
Subscription required to view entire article.

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
Subscription required to view entire article.

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.
Subscription required to view entire article.

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.
Subscription required to view entire article.
(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
Subscription required to view entire article.

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
Subscription required to view entire article.

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)
Subscription required to view entire article.

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)
Subscription required to view entire article.

Non-AMA health literacy news items

World News Tonight, Broadcast news
ABC News, Feb. 25, 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

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

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.

National Center for Education Statistics on Health Literacy Released
The National Center for Education Statistics released "The Health Literacy of America's Adults: Results from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy"
The results are based on assessment tasks designed specifically to measure the health literacy of adults living in the United States.

The Health Literacy Consulting Web site features the article "In other words. . . Health Communication and Patient Safety."

AMA Foundation Supports the Information Rx Program to Improve Health Literacy
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. The AMA Foundation is collaborating with the National Library of Medicine and the Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation on this program.
Doctors have prescription for peace of mind
St. Petersburg Times, Lisa Greene, Times Staff Writer
Published Feb. 15, 2005

Institute of Medicine Report on Health Literacy Released
The Institute of Medicine has released "Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion". Among the findings are that 90 million Americans are burdened with inadquate health literacy skills. Download and purchase the report.