|
90 MILLION AMERICANS (NEARLY 1 IN 2 ADULTS) DO NOT
UNDERSTAND BASIC HEALTH INFORMATION,
ACCORDING TO INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE REPORT
Download the Report Brief Here. (pdf)
The Partnership for Clear Health Communication Working
to Provide Practical Solutions to Low Health Literacy Epidemic
WASHINGTON, DC – Low health literacy - the ability to read, understand and act on health information – affects 90 million people in the United States and by some estimates costs the healthcare system more than $58 billion annually, according to a new report released today by the Institute of Medicine (IOM). The Partnership for Clear Health Communication, the first national coalition of organizations working together to promote awareness and solutions around the issue of low health literacy and its effect on health outcomes, supports the findings in the IOM report, “Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion.”
The Partnership and its members have been working to raise awareness about low health literacy, and developing and researching practical solutions to improve communication between healthcare providers and patients. The group is committed to offering free and low-cost resources and programs that deliver information, medical education and practice management tools to health care providers and organizations that share information with patients.
“The release of the IOM report raises public awareness of what the Partnership and other organizations dedicated to clear health communication have been working on for years: that health literacy is among the nation’s most pressing public health issues,” said Duane Cady, MD, President of the American Medical Association Foundation, a member of the Partnership. “It clearly validates the work the Partnership and its members have been doing to improve health literacy in the United States.”
The Partnership is guided by a solution-based Action Agenda that is closely aligned with the IOM report’s Vision for a Health Literate America, which identifies a number of recommendations to government agencies, private funders, educational institutions, health care systems and providers.
The Partnership Action Agenda includes:
- Educating patients and providers about health literacy;
- Developing and applying practical solutions to improve patient-provider communication;
- Conducting nationally coordinated research to further define the health literacy issue and evaluate solutions;
- Increasing support for health literacy policy and funding.
Partnership members have been leading the way in a) engaging consumers in the development of programs and solutions to determine the most effective health messages and approaches; b) stressing the connection between health disparities and low health literacy among different ethnic populations; and c) ensuring that health literacy is accounted for in quality assessment and accreditation measures.
"The Partnership is bringing together provider, patient, and community groups to address health literacy at the grass roots level,” said Barbara DeBuono, MD, MPH, Senior Medical Director/Group Leader, Public Health Group, Pfizer Inc., and a founding member of the Partnership. “Every step we take to make health information better understood is a step we take to help people lead healthier and better lives."
The organization’s first initiative is Ask Me 3, a quick and effective tool designed to improve communication between patients and providers. “I see the need for more effective communication tools in my practice on a daily basis,” said Dr. Sharon Allison-Ottey, a physician and Chair of the Health Literacy Task Force of the National Medical Association, a member of the Partnership. “Doctors are looking for solutions that are easy to implement and that can work in a real life setting. Ask Me 3 is one such solution.”
Through patient and provider education materials developed by leading health literacy experts, Ask Me 3 promotes three simple but essential questions that patients should ask their providers in every health care interaction:
- What is my main problem?
- What do I need to do?
- Why is it important for me to do this?
The Partnership shares the IOM’s vision for the need to have reliable, understandable health information that could make a difference in patients’ well-being. A growing number of health care organizations are using Partnership materials to educate and motivate their provider and patient memberships to increase positive health outcomes for all patients. Organizations nationwide are doing a variety of things to support the goals of the Partnership and help improve the nation’s health literacy. Partnership materials are available at www.npsf.org/askme3.
Click here for more information on the report.
Learn more about the Partnership for Clear Health Communication and our Steering Committee
|
