The AHRQ Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit promotes using health literacy universal precautions—the structuring of health information and services in ways that everyone can understand and use. Health literacy universal precautions should be used by all health care providers, regardless of their patients’ presumed level of health literacy.
October is Health Literacy month…Are you providing health information in ways that those you serve can understand and use? Health literacy universal precautions call for:
• Simplifying communication and confirming understanding with everyone.
• Making the office environment and healthcare system easier to navigate.
• Supporting people’s efforts to improve their health.
The Partnership to Advance Tribal Health team recently created two tools to highlight how application of the Health Literacy Universal Precautions can help health care providers make health information easier to understand and act on, make health care easier to navigate and increase support for patients of all health literacy levels.
A national survey showed that 88% of U.S. adults do not have the health literacy skills needed to manage all the demands of the current healthcare system, and 36% have limited personal health literacy. Let’s do our part to help change the system so patients do not face these hurdles.