October is Health Literacy Month — a great time to build health literacy in your organization and in your community.
Health literacy is a central focus of Healthy People 2030. Healthy People updated the definition of health literacy to recognize its two dimensions: personal health literacy and organizational health literacy. Personal health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the ability to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions for themselves and others. Organizational health literacy is the degree to which organizations enable individuals to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others.
Organizational health literacy supports personal health literacy. Most people will struggle to find, understand, and use health information at some point in their lives, especially when they’re feeling overwhelmed — like when they’re sick, facing a new diagnosis, or providing care or support for a loved one. By promoting organizational health literacy, organizations can help foster personal health literacy in the people they serve, empowering people to make informed decisions about their health.
ODPHP offers a variety of evidence-based health literacy and communication tools, practices, and research for health professionals and organizations. You can use these resources to promote health literacy in October and throughout the year.
On this page:
- Promote Health Literacy Month
- Use ODPHP’s Health Literacy and Clear Communication Resources in Your Work
Promote Health Literacy Month
Use these resources to spread the word about Health Literacy Month on social media, in newsletters, in blogs, and through other communication channels.
Social media posts and graphics
Use ODPHP’s social media posts and graphics to spread the word within your network. Be sure to use the #HealthLiteracyMonth hashtag to boost your post’s visibility.
This #HealthLiteracyMonth, discover ODPHP resources to help you build health literacy in your community and communicate health information in a way that’s easy to understand and use: https://odphp.health.gov/our-work/national-health-initiatives/health-literacyIt’s #HealthLiteracyMonth — the perfect time to incorporate health literacy best practices into your communications. Learn how to create actionable, easy-to-use health websites and digital tools with Health Literacy Online: https://odphp.health.gov/healthliteracyonline Health Literacy Month Promotion Graphic 1
Download[106.11 KB PNG]Health Literacy Month Promotion Graphic 2
Download[91.21 KB PNG]Newsletter or blog content
Use this blurb to highlight Health Literacy Month in your organization’s newsletter or blog.
October is Health Literacy Month — the perfect time to cultivate health literacy in your organization and in your community. Health literacy empowers people to make informed decisions about their health. You can promote health literacy by communicating health information in a way that’s easy for people to understand and use. Health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the ability to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions for themselves and others. When it comes to increasing health literacy, both individuals and organizations have important roles to play.
Individuals can build health literacy by seeking out health information from reliable sources like MyHealthfinder, a website from the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). MyHealthfinder provides accessible, expert-backed health information on more than 100 topics in English and Spanish. You can even add MyHealthfinder content to your own website using ODPHP’s free web content tools.
Health professionals and organizations can empower people to make informed health decisions by implementing health literacy and clear communication best practices in their work.
Explore ODPHP’s health literacy and clear communication resources for health professionals and organizations. You can also sign up for email updates on the latest health literacy initiatives and resources from ODPHP.
Use ODPHP’s Health Literacy and Clear Communication Resources in Your Work
ODPHP has developed a variety of evidence-based resources that can help you incorporate health literacy and clear communication best practices in your work.
Share preventive care recommendations and evidence-based health information with MyHealthfinder
MyHealthfinder features personalized preventive care recommendations and simple, expert-backed health information on more than 100 topics in English and Spanish. You can empower people to make informed health decisions by sharing the MyHealthfinder website or adding MyHealthfinder content to your own website.
Develop actionable, accessible digital health materials with Health Literacy Online
To support organizational and personal health literacy, health organizations must communicate health information in a way that’s easy for people to access, understand, and use. Clear communication and accessibility aren’t optional — in fact, they’re core to the responsibilities of any health organization. Check out Health Literacy Online for research-based guidance on creating digital health content for a broad range of audiences, including people with limited health and digital literacy skills.
Find out how Healthy People 2030 is promoting health literacy
Healthy People 2030 seeks to improve health and well-being by setting data-driven national objectives. A central focus of Healthy People is increasing personal and organizational health literacy to improve health and well-being for all. Learn more about health literacy in Healthy People 2030 and explore related objectives:
- Increase the proportion of adolescents who speak privately with a provider at a preventive medical visit
- Increase the proportion of adults whose health care provider checked their understanding
- Decrease the proportion of adults who report poor communication with their health care provider
- Increase the health literacy of the population
Increase patient engagement and improve health outcomes with the Health Literate Care Model
The Health Literate Care Model offers a systems framework to help health organizations integrate health literacy strategies into all aspects of care. Check out the Health Literate Care Model to learn how your organization can improve patient care and health outcomes through health literacy.
Learn more about health literacy as a social determinant of health
Healthy People 2030 identifies health literacy as a social determinant of health (SDOH). Read this literature summary to find out how health literacy shapes health outcomes, access to care, and quality of life. Then, explore related evidence-based resources (EBRs) that can help you develop programs and policies to advance health literacy based on evidence of what works. For example, this EBR describes how decision aids helped people make informed decisions about treatments or screenings.
Use strategies from the National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy
The National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy outlines key goals for building health literacy in the United States, along with action steps that professionals and organizations can take to support these goals. Explore the Action Plan to learn how you can foster health literacy in your professional role.
Get Email Updates About Health Literacy
Sign up for email updates to get the most up-to-date information from ODPHP about health literacy, MyHealthfinder, Healthy People 2030, and more.
