Recognizing Issues of Health Literacy
What is Health Literacy?
It is an individual's ability to understand and act on health information.
Over 80 million adults in the united States have basic or below literacy skills.
9 out of 10 adults in the United States may lack skills to manage health and prevent disease.
Low Health Literacy Can Lead To:
Consumer Resources
Below is a curated list of reputable consumer health resources that can be shared with patrons. At the bottom of the page is a list of questions that patrons should consider when determining if a website is a reliable source of information. All of the information on this page is also available in a brochure which you can download. Please see the link below.
Resources for Librarians - Implicit Bias
Below are several resources on understanding and addressing implicit bias. Librarians can benefit from gaining awareness of and confronting their own implicit biases as they can negatively impact interactions with patrons.
Here are some important questions to ask when determining if a web-site is a trustworthy source of information:
1. Who runs the website?
2. What is the mission of the website?
3. For whom is the site written?
4. Where does the content originate?
5. How (and how frequently) is the information reviewed?
6. Is the material up to date?
7. Remember: good websites should never ask you for money, social security number, or address.
EthnoMed - https://ethnomed.org/
Amharic, Cambodian, Chinese, Eritrean, Ethiopian, Oromo, Somali, Spanish, Tigrean, Vietnamese, and others.
Health Research - https://healthreach.nlm.nih.gov/
Multilingual information for health professionals, refugees, and asylees (in print, audio, and video format).
Health Info Translations - https://www.healthinfotranslations.org/
Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), French, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Ukranian, Hindi, Vietnamese, Arabic.
Healthy Roads Media - http://www.healthyroadsmedia.org/
Provides audio, written, and multimedia versions of resources in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Arabic, Somali, Bosnian, Russian, Hmong, and Khmer.
Immunization Actions Coalition - https://www.immunize.org/
Vaccine information sheets, produced by the CDC and available in over 30 languages.
La Leche League - https://www.llli.org/
Breastfeeding information in 12 languages.
New South Wales Multicultural Health Communication Service
https://www.mhcs.health.nsw.gov.au/
A rich resource with numerous health topics in 50 languages.
U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants
https://refugees.org/research-reports/
Culturally appropriate materials for consumers and healthcare-related professionals in 19 languages.
Shared Decision Making - Medline Plus
https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000877.htm
Overcoming Barriers to Shared Decision Making - American Heart Association
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality - https://www.ahrq.gov/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - https://www.cdc.gov/
Clinical Trials - https://clinicaltrials.gov/
Genetics Home Reference - https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/
Health Resources and Services Administration - https://www.hrsa.gov/
Indian Health Services - https://www.ihs.gov/
Medicare - https://www.medicare.gov/
MedlinePlus - https://www.medlineplus.gov/
National Library of Medicine - https://www.nlm.nih.gov/
National Institutes of Health - https://www.nih.gov/health-information
PubMed - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/
World Health Organization - https://www.who.int/
"Understanding Unconscious Bias" video by The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/topics-policy/publications/2015/unconscious-bias/
"Introduction to Implicit Bias" by National Implicit Bias Network https://implicitbias.net/implicitbias
List of various articles and resources on bias shared by National Implicit Bias Network - https://implicitbias.net/resources/resources-by-category
Implicit Bias overview and Key Sites by Racial Equity Tools https://www.racialequitytools.org/act/communicating/implicit-bias
Implicit Association tests by Project Implicit https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/
Alzheimer's Association - https://www.alz.org/
American Cancer Association - https://www.cancer.org/
American Diabetes Association - https://www.diabetes.org/
American Lung Association - https://www.lung.org/
Family Doctor - https://familydoctor.org/
Healthy Children
https://www.healthychildren.org/English/Pages/default.aspx
March of Dimes - https://www.marchofdimes.org/
National Kidney Foundation - https://www.kidney.org/
Administration for Community Living - https://acl.gov/
Eldercare Locator - https://eldercare.acl.gov/Public/About/Index.aspx
Alzheimer's Association - https://www.alz.org/help-support/caregiving
Parkinson's Disease Caregiver Information
https://www.parkinson.org/Living-with-Parkinsons/For-Caregivers
Daily Med - https://www.dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/
Drugs.com. Know More, Be Sure - https://www.drugs.com/
Lab Tests Online - https://labtestsonline.org/
Official U.S. Government Medicare Web-site: https://www.medicare.gov
Official U.S. Government Medicare Handbook "Medicare and You": https://www.medicare.gov/forms-help-resources/medicare-you-handbook/download-medicare-you-in-different-formats
This handbook is an excellent, easy to understand guide to Medicare. Available in formats including English, Spanish, Braille, Audio, large print, and e-Book.
Apply for Medicare online: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/medicare/
To apply online, you must:
Official Medicaid web-site: https://www.medicaid.gov/
Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (program that administers Medicaid): https://www.cms.gov/
Resources for New York
Apply for New York State Medicaid, Children's Medicaid, or Child Health Plus:
Information on New York State Medicaid: https://www.health.ny.gov/health_care/medicaid/
Further resources on New York State Medicaid: https://www.health.ny.gov/health_care/medicaid/reference/