We’re wrapping up Health Literacy Month here at Health Communication Partners.
Every care provider knows that great communication is part of great care. That includes communication before, during, and after the patient encounter.
To support such great communication, I like to explore the different ways we can think about, research, and ‘do’ health literacy – while supporting everyone’s health literacy.
Not a small task!
So here are no less than 25 tips, strategies and resources for you to use, on your own, with your colleagues, and with your patients, when health literacy is on your mind.
Want to do something about health literacy right now? Of course you do! So here’s four options. You know health literacy is not new. But did you know it happens nearly everywhere, every day, with everyone?
In one of my all-time most popular articles, about phones and health literacy, I take a look at all the literacy skills and processes involved with the use of a smart phone. And then I give you 2 strategies you can do with smart phones, and 2 strategies you can do without them, to support any patient, no matter their comfort with health literacy.
Because health literacy as a field is big and getting bigger (thanks to digital health), it can feel overwhelming. So here are 4 fundamentals to keep in mind so you can feel more confident and competent when it comes to health literacy.
I’d be wrong not to mention one of the first podcasts we did on health literacy. And these go to 11. In response to a nurse administrator’s concern about a patient who was labelled ‘illiterate,’ I wrote 11 research-based steps you could take to prepare for patients who may have limited literacy.
If “high health literacy” is even a thing, care providers have it! Here’s a look at the health literacy of providers, “From pee-pee, to pee, to urine: how words work in health.” Easily one of the most fun times I’ve had with a podcast (we call it the pee-pee episode and there’s even some potty talk). It’s about some of the things we take for granted when we speak.
Where to start? Here’s a handy infographic I made just for you.
