About Health Literacy

Health literacy is a broad topic, with applications in practice, policy, research, education, and more. Click here for more on health literacy and its importance.


What is Health Literacy?

Health literacy is defined in two ways:

  1. Personal health literacy is how well a person can find, understand, and use information and services to make decisions about their own health and the health of others.

  2. Organizational health literacy is how well organizations equitably help all people find, understand, and use information and services to make decisions about their own health and others. 


Elevate Your Health Literacy Competency

The IHA Health Literacy Solutions Center

IHA’s Health Literacy Solution Center connects health professionals from a wide variety of organizations and is an online hub of innovative resources and tools. After joining for free, you’ll gain access to discussion boards, webinars, blogs, job boards, an expert directory, and our extensive resource library. Empower your work today!


The IHA Health Literacy Specialist Certificate Program
Whether you're new to the healthcare field or have years of experience, this new program from IHA will enhance your health literacy knowledge so you can apply these principles in your daily work.


The Always Use Teach-back! Training Toolkit

This toolkit helps healthcare providers learn to use teach-back to support patients and families throughout the care continuum.


Resources

Here's a collection of resources for health literacy statistics.