Health literacy: implications for ambulatory care

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Patient Education

Background:

• Growing recognition of health literacy's impact on patient outcomes.
• Existing assessment tools for health literacy face clinical application challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review methods for identifying patients with inadequate health literacy.
• To discuss the assessment of patient education materials.
• To present an action plan for ambulatory care settings.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing health literacy screening tools and methods.
• Identification of "red flags" for health literacy assessment.
• Evaluation criteria for patient education materials.

Main Results:

• Three screening questions are effective for identifying patients with low health literacy.
• "Red flags" aid in patient identification.
• Assessment of materials should focus on attributes, readability, and suitability.

Conclusions:

• Effective strategies exist to identify and address health literacy in clinical practice.
• An action plan can improve health literacy support in ambulatory care.
• Improving health literacy is essential for better patient outcomes.