NC Voices: Health Literacy
Friday, October 05 2007
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There are a lot of ways to get health information… from the doctor, the Internet, books, patient handouts, friends and family. But how do you know what information is best for you? Wading through and understanding it, contradictions and all, is a function of health literacy - the ability to understand and follow the doctor’s advice. Without that, even patients with good medical insurance can lose out. Rose Hoban reports for our series "North Carolina Voices: Diagnosing Health Care."
Additional Information about issues heard in this report:
- Institute of Medicine health literacy report
- National Adult Assessment of Literacy
- The August 2006 issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine was dedicated to health literacy, and there was an editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2004. The JAMA editorial cites several reports, including one from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality on health literacy and another one from the Institute of Medicine
