Health Literacy Resources: Using Plain Language

• JAMA Patient Page The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) provides the full text of the journal's patient education handouts, many in Spanish as well as English.
• MedlinePlus Easy-to-Read (National Library of Medicine) includes patient education handouts, many in Spanish as well as English. Also, see MedlinePlus Interactive Tutorials, health education materials describing conditions and procedures in plain language with animated graphics and audio. (Flash plug-in, version 6, is available for free download at the site.)

• Health Literacy videos from the AMA Foundation's Health Literacy Project.
• AskMe3, a partnership of national organizations, includes tips for writing clearly as well as statistics, research reports, and practical advice for healthcare providers and patients.
• California Health Literacy Initiative includes the results of a recent California pilot study, health literacy statistics, and many links to online resources.
• Clear Health Communication Initiative from Pfizer, the pharmaceutical company, supports research on low health literacy and ways to improve healthcare information. The Newest Vital Sign (NVS) is 3-minute bilingual assessement tool based on a nutrition label. A study in the Annals of Family Medicine (Dec. 2005) concluded that "NVS is suitable for use as a quick screening test for limited literacy in primary health care settings." Check it out in English or Spanish.
• Expecting the Best, from a collaborative group in North Carolina, gives a health and wellness curriculum guide for English as a Second Language (ESL) learners.
• Harvard School of Public Health/Health Literacy Studies provides teaching guides, online resources,and research reports.
• Health Literacy and Cultural Competency. From the AHRQ (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality).
• Healthy Roads Media, from a partnership of organizations in North Dakota and Minnesota, offers free audio, written, and multimedia materials in plain language. Health information is available in over a dozen languages.
• Medical Library Association (MLA): Health Literacy section provides resources and reports, including a recently published article on "Low Health Literacy: How it Impacts your Patients" by Jean Blackwell of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
• National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy, from the U. S. Dept. of Health and Human Services.
• Plain Language.gov, from an initiative to improve communication from the Federal government to the public, this page includes links to resources.
• The Plain Language Association International includes articles, tutorials, Web links, news, and e-mail discussion group.
• The Plain Language Initiative: Training and Resources at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), intended for use within a government agency, offers tips for writers.

• Current Bibliographies in Medicine: Understanding Health Literacy and its Barriers (2004) from the National Library of Medicine lists more than 600 articles and resources, some with web links. An earlier bibliography, Current Bibliographies in Medicine: Health Literacy (2000) covers resources from 1990 to 1999.
• Health Literacy: A Key Ingredient for Managing Personal Health by Barbara F. Schloman, Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, February 2004.
• Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion (2004) is a report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM), also available in print in Treadwell Library.
• Health Literacy and Cancer Communication by Terry C. Davis, Mark V. Williams, Estela Marin, Ruth Parker, and Jonathan Glass in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians (2002) reviews recent research and identifies a "cancer communication gap."
• Literacy and Health Outcomes Evidence Report/Technology Assessment: Number 87 (2004) from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) summarizes the literature related to outcomes, interventions, and socioeconomic factors.
• Literacy Toolkit: Better Communication For Better CareRhode Island's Health Literacy Project offers resources to help physicians/providers and their staffs address communication challenges that may result from patients’ literacy levels or language/cultural barriers.
• Plain Language Principles and Thesaurus for Making HIPAA Privacy Notices More Readable, Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, is a comprehensive guide to writing privacy notices in easy-to-read ways.
• Recognizing and Overcoming Inadequate Health Literacy, a Barrier to Care by Mark V. Williams in Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine, May 2002, 69(5): 415-418.
• Why Johnny is Sick: Researcher Strengthens Health, Literacy Link (2003), from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), describes recent research showing a connection between health literacy and successful management of chronic illness.

• Assessing the nation's health literacy : key concepts and findings of the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) (2008)
• Don't make me think! A common sense approach to web usability/ S. Krug; New Riders Publishing (2000)
• Health literacy from A to Z: practical ways to communicate your health message/H. Osborne; Jones and Bartlett (2005)
• Health literacy in primary care : a clinician's guide / Gloria G. Mayer and Michael Villaire ; with a foreword by Albert E. Barnett (2007)
• Health literacy [kit with video and cd]: help your patients understand/ American Medical Association (2003)
• Health literacy: a prescription to end confusion/L. Nielsen-Bohlman, A. Panzer, and D. Kindig, ed; Committee on Health Literacy, Board of Neuroscience and Behavioral Health (2004)
• Plain language pediatrics : health literacy strategies and communication resources for common pediatric topics (2009)
• Understanding health literacy: implications for medicine and public health (2005)

• The Health Literacy Institute - Director, Sue Stableford, has trained more than 150 people at MGH. If you are interested in attending a plain language workshop at MGH in 2007, please contact Elizabeth Schneider, Director, Treadwell Library.
• Health Literacy Consulting - Private consulting group founded by Helen Osborne and based in Natick, MA.

Revised June, 2010. This page maintained by Deborah Jameson.
Copyright© 2002-2003 Treadwell Library MGH