Increase the health literacy of the population — HC/HIT‑R01 Healthy People in Action

One of the most important questions public health professionals need to consider is not only what intervention will achieve the desired health outcomes, but what level of influence will be most effective. The social-ecological model of health identifies factors that affect health at different levels — ranging from individual knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors to the family and community level and into the broader level of societal factors. Across all levels, health literacy is an important social determinant of health.

This post describes how Sacramento Public Library, a Healthy People 2030 Champion, contributed to progress towardHealthy People 2020 objectives — as well as Healthy People 2030 objectives under the social determinants of health domain Social and Community Context.

There’s widespread agreement that health care is not the principal driver of health. Rather, the conditions in the places where people live, work, and play — what many refer to as social determinants of health — have the greatest influence on our health. Organizational health literacy — the degree to which organizations equitably enable individuals to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others — is one of those key social determinants.