FHSLA is celebrating Health Literacy Month throughout October

Did you know:
-9 out of 10 adults struggle with health literacy
-Low health literacy can affect a person's ability to manage their health and lead to poor health outcomes
Source: NNLM (2021) 

Librarians have an important role to play in promoting health literacy in our communities. Providing access to health information or helping healthcare providers incorporate best practices in health literacy are just a few. Grants are available from NNLM for libraries providing health literacy services. Below are some suggested resources if you would like to promote health literacy in your library. 

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Health Literacy Month Promotional Materials:
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Institute for Healthcare Advancement   healthliteracymonth.org/home       

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Resources and Training for Professionals:

Network of the National Library of Medicine: Information, training, resources, and funding related to health literacy 
​ nnlm.gov/guides/intro-health-literacy

National Institute of Health: Key research findings and resources about health literacy 
​www.nih.gov/institutes-nih/nih-office-director/office-communications-public-liaison/clear-communication/health-literacy
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Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit: evidence based practices to bolster patients' understanding of health information 
www.ahrq.gov/health-literacy/improve/precautions/index.html

Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool: Are your patient education materials easy for your patients to understand and use? Use this tool to find out.  www.ahrq.gov/health-literacy/patient-education/pemat.html

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Information, resources, and training opportunities to improve health literacy  
​www.cdc.gov/healthliteracy/index.html

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Resources for Healthcare Consumers: 

Medline Plus: understanding health literacy and specific topics like talking to your doctor and reading medication labels
​medlineplus.gov/healthliteracy.html

Understanding Medical Words Tutorial:  interactive tutorial to increase patients' understanding of medical terminology 
 medlineplus.gov/medwords/medicalwords.html
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My Healthcare Finder: clear, plain text health information
 health.gov/myhealthfinder
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