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 – […]
Health Literacy & Digital Health Literacy
4 handy reminders about health literacy
In the last several years, health literacy has become the patient safety and quality issue that everyone is supposed to be paying attention to. The WHO is working on it, along with multiple federal agencies and professional organizations. Health communication researchers have been on it for decades now (way before it was cool). It has […]
Why health literacy matters to your patient education
What does health literacy have to do with patient education? I’ve been asked this question many times over the years, directly and indirectly. The question itself makes sense. As providers, you want patients to have health information in a way that they can use. You want to share what you know, in a way that […]
How your organization’s digital health tools can leave patients behind (and what can be done about it)
A health care administrator was talking with me about digital health tools. They’re everywhere, he acknowledged, pointing to several apps on his own smart phone. But he knew sometimes they weren’t all they’d cracked up to be. And this often fell at the foot of the provider. Of course, providers usually aren’t the developers or […]
What you need to know about health literacy and health apps
When physicians talk with me about apps, those conversations tend to fall into two categories. (No, not ‘glee’ and ‘horror.’) Maybe these apply to you: your patients are coming to you, talking/asking questions about various apps, or your organization uses a specific app, and you are talking to patients about that app. So if you […]
Infographic: Some health literacy basics
As health professionals, you care about health literacy. Health literacy is a large field. The research on health literacy covers a massive territory. So it’s easy to get lost in the weeds. We did a podcast on this. Here’s an infographic that’s even speedier. Here, I’m offering some loose groupings or distinctions in health literacy–both research […]