Do you know what it means if you’re asymptomatic, or have had an infarction? It’s estimated that 43 percent of people who visit a healthcare provider can’t fully understand what is said or written, or have below-average health literacy. It’s a problem that costs the industry an estimated $60 billion. It’s why the nation’s first comprehensive health literacy guide, launched by Health Literacy Innovations (HLI) and Philadelphia-based healthcare leader AmeriaHealth Mercy Family of Companies, is such a breakthrough.
The 36-page Health Literacy and Plain Language Resource Guide, developed from hundreds of worldwide resources, is free and will be distributed to providers and educators at healthcare conferences across the U.S. and AmeriHealth Mercy’s and HLI’s Web sites. The guide also includes information on government initiative programs and available training.
”Systems are designed in a way that’s hard to navigate,” says Aracely Rosales, HLI’s Chief Content Expert and Multilingual Director. HLI is a three year-old social entrepreneurship company in Bethesda, Md. ”What we’re trying to do is raise this issue to where people know it’s a problem and do something about it.”
Rosales, who has been in the health literacy field since 1992, had worked with AmeriHealth Mercy previously on regional programs.
”They were a perfect match when we needed a sponsor for communication,” Rosales says. ”They’re a company that is a mission-driven organization dedicated to quality health care for low-income populations.”
In addition to helping patients take charge of their health, Rosales says savings made possibly by increased health literacy would be enough to provide health coverage to all the uninsured in the U.S.
“It’s a problem and one that’s not known by many,” she says.
Source: Aracely Rosales, Chief Content and Multilingual Director for Health Literacy Innovations
Writer: Joe Petrucci
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