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Conference Series Shines Spotlight on the Importance of Ohio Health Literacy

Did you know that one out of every four people in Cuyahoga County reads at or below a fifth grade level? A lack of basic literacy skills contributes to problems understanding health information, but even those with advanced degrees can have trouble grasping health information. To help address this, the Health Literacy Institute at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center and Project Learn have partnered to produce the Ohio Health Literacy Conference Series. Co-sponsored by The Center, this conference series aims to educate healthcare providers and others about the importance of improving health literacy.

What is health literacy? In simple terms, health literacy is the patient’s ability to understand and act on health information. It also includes a healthcare provider’s ability to communicate so patients can act on the information to take better care of their health.

Staff from The Center attended the June 13, 2012 session and took away these key points:

• Illiteracy is persistent, widespread and costly.
• People with limited health literacy skills have higher utilization of treatment services and lower utilization of preventive services. Common problems include not understanding consent forms or how and when to take medicine.
• Patient literature should be written at a sixth grade reading level.