Functional Literacy
Comparing new literacy measure Newest Vital Sign to previous measures
Ovid MEDLINE(R)
UI: 17931135
Osborn CY. Weiss BD. Davis TC. Skripkauskas S. Rodrigue C. Bass PF. Wolf MS.
Measuring adult literacy in health care: performance of the newest vital sign.
American Journal of Health Behavior. 31 Suppl 1:S36-46, 2007 Sep-Oct.
Picture-based medication instructions to assist better patient understanding of prescription drug labels and other medication instructions. For patients with limited literacy skills or with cognitive impairment.
CINAHL
AN: 2009601991 NLM Unique Identifier: 17344015.
Kripalani S. Robertson R. Love-Ghaffari MH. Henderson LE. Praska J. Strawder A. Katz MG. Jacobson TA.
Development of an illustrated medication schedule as a low-literacy patient education tool.
Patient Education and Counseling. 2007 Jun; 66(3): 368-77.
Overestimation of patient literacy tends to occur more often with minority patients. This discordance in estimation of patient's literacy level may result in disparities in health care.
CINAHL
AN: 2009556993 NLM Unique Identifier: 17140758.
Kelly PA. Haidet P.
Physician overestimation of patient literacy: a potential source of health care disparities.
Patient Education and Counseling. 2007 Apr; 66(1): 119-22.
This study concluded that low-literacy may affect patients’ ability to learn about their medical conditions and treatments.
Ovid MEDLINE(R)
UI: 17431697
Katz MG. Jacobson TA. Veledar E. Kripalani S.
Patient literacy and question-asking behavior during the medical encounter: a mixed-methods analysis.
Journal of General Internal Medicine. 22(6):782-6, 2007 Jun.
The most basic health-related tasks such as reading a prescription, filling out a consent form, or following a hospital map, may be difficult for some patients. Furthermore, they may not take advantage of services for which they qualify as a result of their level of literacy.
CINAHL
AN: 2009111299.
Scudder L.
Words and well-being: how literacy affects -- patient health.
Journal for Nurse Practitioners. 2006 Jan; 2(1): 28-35.
This review of interventions designed to improve health outcomes for persons with low literacy skills found limitations in the ability to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of interventions.
PsycINFO
Accession Number: 2005-03530-002.
Pignone M. DeWalt DA. Sheridan S. Berkman N. Lohr KN.
Interventions to Improve Health Outcomes for Patients with Low Literacy: A Systematic Review.
Journal of General Internal Medicine. 20(2)185-192, 2005 Feb.
Potential barriers to sharing decision-making with lower literate patients. Approaches to addressing these barriers.
Ovid MEDLINE
Unique Identifier: 15807364
Shalowitz DI. Wolf MS.
Shared decision-making and the lower literate patient.
Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics. 32(4):759-64, 2004.
Chinese subjects’ perceptions of their ability of to obtain adequate medical care and comply with the recommendations of health professionals.
Ovid MEDLINE
Unique Identifier: 15125781
Lam TP. Cheng YH. Chan YL.
Low literacy Chinese patients: how are they affected and how do they cope with health matters? A qualitative study.
BMC Public Health. 4(1):14, 2004 May 4.
Full text via PubMed Central & DOAJ Full Text
This literature review confirms that patients with low literacy were more likely to experience a poor outcome in the areas of knowledge, intermediate disease markers, measures of morbidity, general health status, and use of health resources.
PsycINFO
Accession Number: 2005-02747-004.
DeWalt DA. Berkman ND. Sheridan S. Lohr KN. Pignone MP.
Literacy and Health Outcomes: A Systematic Review of the Literature.
Journal of General Internal Medicine. 19(12)1228-1239, ) 2004 Dec.
The Atlantic provinces have the highest rates of low-literacy in Canada as well as the highest rates of chronic disease.
PsycINFO
Accession Number: 2004-22034-012.
Gillis DE. MacIsaac A. Quigley BA. Shively J.
Health literacy: Expanding practitioners' horizons through collaborative research.
Journal of Interprofessional Care. 18(4) 449-451, 2004 Nov.
Nearly half of all American adults can’t understand the complex language used in health care delivery.
Ovid MEDLINE
Unique Identifier: 15536740
Thrall TH.
Dump the mumbo-jumbo.
Hospitals & Health Networks. 78(10):70-2, 74, 2004 Oct.
Full text via EBSCOhost & ProQuest
Steps that family physicians can take to bridge the health literacy gap with their patients.
Ovid MEDLINE
Unique Identifier: 15152955
Hixon AL.
Functional health literacy: improving health outcomes.
American Family Physician. 69(9):2077-8, 2004 May 1.
Full text via ProQuest, via MD Consult 1999-, via journal homepage 1998-
Steps to take to bridge the health literacy gap between healthcare providers and patients
Ovid MEDLINE(R)
Unique Identifier: 12968440
Feifer R.
How a few simple words improve patients' health.
Managed Care Quarterly. 11(2):29-31, 2003
Full text via EBSCOhost & ProQuest
Literacy can be faked and low literacy may be hard to identify. This article includes strategies for clear communication between doctors and patients.
Ovid MEDLINE
Unique Identifier: 14623636
Wilson JF.
The crucial link between literacy and health
Annals of Internal Medicine. 139(10):875-8, 2003 Nov 18
Full text via HighWire & ProQuest
Patients may not understand phrases often used in cancer consultations and their knowledge of basic anatomy cannot be assumed.
Ovid MEDLINE
Unique Identifier: 12923796
Chapman K. Abraham C. Jenkins V. Fallowfield L.
Lay understanding of terms used in cancer consultations.
Psycho-Oncology. 12(6):557-66, 2003 Sep.
Low literacy is strongly associated with poor health. Consideration needs to be given to reading level, accuracy, relevance, tone of health information, and materials.
CINAHL
Accession Number: 2001104299
Winslow EH.
Patient education materials: can patients read them, or are they ending up in the trash?
American Journal of Nursing. 101(10):33-9, 2001 Oct.
Full text via Ovid
This article defines literacy and describes literacy screening tools and readability formulas.
Ovid MEDLINE
Unique Identifier: 11188460
Quirk PA.
Screening for literacy and readability: implications for the advanced practice nurse.
Clinical Nurse Specialist. 14(1):26-32, 2000 Jan.
Full text via Ovid
Shame can play an important role in how low literacy patients interact with health care providers. In this study, 67.2% of subjects had never told their spouses, and 53.4% had never told their children of their difficulties reading.
PsycINFO
Accession Number: 1996-02319-004.
Parikh NS. Parker RM. Nurss JR. Baker DW. Williams MV.
Shame and health literacy: The unspoken connection.
Patient Education & Counseling. 27(1)33-39, 1996 Jan.
Resource for health professionals providing plain language and clear design revisions for the public, private and voluntary sectors.
Canadian Public Health Association's (CPHA) Plain Language Service
Health Literacy
This article explores the importance of increasing the awareness of health literacy issues among health care professionals and of encouraging them to assess patients with reliable instruments.
CINAHL
AN: 2009851815.
Lehna C.
The impact of health literacy on patient outcomes.
CareManagement. 2007 Dec-2008 Jan; 13(6): 27-32.
Improving communication with low health-literacy patients can help achieve optimal results such as proper medication use.
CINAHL
AN: 2009775379.
Safeer RS. Cooke CE. Robertson TA. Pharmacy measures to improve medication use through health-literacy principles.
Managed Care Interface. 2007 Oct; 20(10): 37-41.
This article defines health literacy, describes the scope, identifies those patient groups affected, and offers interventions to maximize patient understanding.
CINAHL
Accession Number: 2005047748
Bass L.
Health literacy: implications for teaching the adult patient.
Journal of Infusion Nursing. 28(1):15-22, 68-71, 2005 Jan-Feb.
Full text via Ovid
Low health literacy relates to support and resources in an individual's social environment. Research needs to take into account social support that people can draw on when problems arise due to their health literacy limitations.
PsycINFO
Accession Number: 2004-12179-006.
Lee SD. Arozullah AM. Cho YI.
Health literacy, social support, and health: A research agenda.
Social Science & Medicine. Vol 58(7)1309-1321, 2004 Apr.
Health literacy impacts patient-provider communication. Non-written materials and materials for surrogate readers are among measures that may help.
PsycINFO
Accession Number: 2000-14179-001.
Parker R.
Health literacy: A challenge for American patients and their health care providers.
Health Promotion International. 15(4) 277-283, 2000 Dec.
Full text via HighWire & ProQuest
Resources about health literacy and functional literacy, including a slide presentation and video/DVD about plain language.
Harvard School of Public Health: Health Literacy Studies
A resource for health professionals and patients about health literacy. Ask Me 3 encourages patients to understand the answers to three questions:
1. What is my main problem?
2. What do I need to do?
3. Why is it important for me to do this?
Partnership for Clear Health Communication
This resource provides help in writing in Plain English. (British)
The plain English guide to writing medical information
Comparing new literacy measure Newest Vital Sign to previous measures
Ovid MEDLINE(R)
UI: 17931135
Osborn CY. Weiss BD. Davis TC. Skripkauskas S. Rodrigue C. Bass PF. Wolf MS.
Measuring adult literacy in health care: performance of the newest vital sign.
American Journal of Health Behavior. 31 Suppl 1:S36-46, 2007 Sep-Oct.
This article explores the importance of increasing the awareness of health literacy issues among health care professionals and of encouraging them to assess patients with reliable instruments.
CINAHL
AN: 2009851815.
Lehna C.
The impact of health literacy on patient outcomes.
CareManagement. 2007 Dec-2008 Jan; 13(6): 27-32.
Improving communication with low health-literacy patients can help achieve optimal results such as proper medication use.
CINAHL
AN: 2009775379.
Safeer RS. Cooke CE. Robertson TA. Pharmacy measures to improve medication use through health-literacy principles.
Managed Care Interface. 2007 Oct; 20(10): 37-41.
Picture-based medication instructions to assist better patient understanding of prescription drug labels and other medication instructions. For patients with limited literacy skills or with cognitive impairment.
CINAHL
AN: 2009601991 NLM Unique Identifier: 17344015.
Kripalani S. Robertson R. Love-Ghaffari MH. Henderson LE. Praska J. Strawder A. Katz MG. Jacobson TA.
Development of an illustrated medication schedule as a low-literacy patient education tool.
Patient Education and Counseling. 2007 Jun; 66(3): 368-77.
Overestimation of patient literacy tends to occur more often with minority patients. This discordance in estimation of patient's literacy level may result in disparities in health care.
CINAHL
AN: 2009556993 NLM Unique Identifier: 17140758.
Kelly PA. Haidet P.
Physician overestimation of patient literacy: a potential source of health care disparities.
Patient Education and Counseling. 2007 Apr; 66(1): 119-22.
This article defines health literacy, describes the scope, identifies those patient groups affected, and offers interventions to maximize patient understanding.
CINAHL
Accession Number: 2005047748
Bass L.
Health literacy: implications for teaching the adult patient.
Journal of Infusion Nursing. 28(1):15-22, 68-71, 2005 Jan-Feb.
Full text via Ovid
Low health literacy relates to support and resources in an individual's social environment. Research needs to take into account social support that people can draw on when problems arise due to their health literacy limitations.
PsycINFO
Accession Number: 2004-12179-006.
Lee SD. Arozullah AM. Cho YI.
Health literacy, social support, and health: A research agenda.
Social Science & Medicine. Vol 58(7)1309-1321, 2004 Apr.
This study concluded that low-literacy may affect patients’ ability to learn about their medical conditions and treatments.
Ovid MEDLINE(R)
UI: 17431697
Katz MG. Jacobson TA. Veledar E. Kripalani S.
Patient literacy and question-asking behavior during the medical encounter: a mixed-methods analysis.
Journal of General Internal Medicine. 22(6):782-6, 2007 Jun.
The most basic health-related tasks such as reading a prescription, filling out a consent form, or following a hospital map, may be difficult for some patients. Furthermore, they may not take advantage of services for which they qualify as a result of their level of literacy.
CINAHL
AN: 2009111299.
Scudder L.
Words and well-being: how literacy affects -- patient health.
Journal for Nurse Practitioners. 2006 Jan; 2(1): 28-35.
Health literacy impacts patient-provider communication. Non-written materials and materials for surrogate readers are among measures that may help.
PsycINFO
Accession Number: 2000-14179-001.
Parker R.
Health literacy: A challenge for American patients and their health care providers.
Health Promotion International. 15(4) 277-283, 2000 Dec.
Full text via HighWire & ProQuest
Resources about health literacy and functional literacy, including a slide presentation and video/DVD about plain language.
Harvard School of Public Health: Health Literacy Studies
This review of interventions designed to improve health outcomes for persons with low literacy skills found limitations in the ability to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of interventions.
PsycINFO
Accession Number: 2005-03530-002.
Pignone M. DeWalt DA. Sheridan S. Berkman N. Lohr KN.
Interventions to Improve Health Outcomes for Patients with Low Literacy: A Systematic Review.
Journal of General Internal Medicine. 20(2)185-192, 2005 Feb.
Potential barriers to sharing decision-making with lower literate patients. Approaches to addressing these barriers.
Ovid MEDLINE
Unique Identifier: 15807364
Shalowitz DI. Wolf MS.
Shared decision-making and the lower literate patient.
Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics. 32(4):759-64, 2004.
A resource for health professionals and patients about health literacy. Ask Me 3 encourages patients to understand the answers to three questions:
1. What is my main problem?
2. What do I need to do?
3. Why is it important for me to do this?
Partnership for Clear Health Communication
This resource provides help in writing in Plain English. (British)
The plain English guide to writing medical information
Chinese subjects’ perceptions of their ability of to obtain adequate medical care and comply with the recommendations of health professionals.
Ovid MEDLINE
Unique Identifier: 15125781
Lam TP. Cheng YH. Chan YL.
Low literacy Chinese patients: how are they affected and how do they cope with health matters? A qualitative study.
BMC Public Health. 4(1):14, 2004 May 4.
Full text via PubMed Central & DOAJ Full Text
This literature review confirms that patients with low literacy were more likely to experience a poor outcome in the areas of knowledge, intermediate disease markers, measures of morbidity, general health status, and use of health resources.
PsycINFO
Accession Number: 2005-02747-004.
DeWalt DA. Berkman ND. Sheridan S. Lohr KN. Pignone MP.
Literacy and Health Outcomes: A Systematic Review of the Literature.
Journal of General Internal Medicine. 19(12)1228-1239, ) 2004 Dec.
The Atlantic provinces have the highest rates of low-literacy in Canada as well as the highest rates of chronic disease.
PsycINFO
Accession Number: 2004-22034-012.
Gillis DE. MacIsaac A. Quigley BA. Shively J.
Health literacy: Expanding practitioners' horizons through collaborative research.
Journal of Interprofessional Care. 18(4) 449-451, 2004 Nov.
Nearly half of all American adults can’t understand the complex language used in health care delivery.
Ovid MEDLINE
Unique Identifier: 15536740
Thrall TH.
Dump the mumbo-jumbo.
Hospitals & Health Networks. 78(10):70-2, 74, 2004 Oct.
Full text via EBSCOhost & ProQuest
Steps that family physicians can take to bridge the health literacy gap with their patients.
Ovid MEDLINE
Unique Identifier: 15152955
Hixon AL.
Functional health literacy: improving health outcomes.
American Family Physician. 69(9):2077-8, 2004 May 1.
Full text via ProQuest, via MD Consult 1999-, via journal homepage 1998-
Steps to take to bridge the health literacy gap between healthcare providers and patients
Ovid MEDLINE(R)
Unique Identifier: 12968440
Feifer R.
How a few simple words improve patients' health.
Managed Care Quarterly. 11(2):29-31, 2003
Full text via EBSCOhost & ProQuest
Literacy can be faked and low literacy may be hard to identify. This article includes strategies for clear communication between doctors and patients.
Ovid MEDLINE
Unique Identifier: 14623636
Wilson JF.
The crucial link between literacy and health
Annals of Internal Medicine. 139(10):875-8, 2003 Nov 18
Full text via HighWire & ProQuest
Patients may not understand phrases often used in cancer consultations and their knowledge of basic anatomy cannot be assumed.
Ovid MEDLINE
Unique Identifier: 12923796
Chapman K. Abraham C. Jenkins V. Fallowfield L.
Lay understanding of terms used in cancer consultations.
Psycho-Oncology. 12(6):557-66, 2003 Sep.
Low literacy is strongly associated with poor health. Consideration needs to be given to reading level, accuracy, relevance, tone of health information, and materials.
CINAHL
Accession Number: 2001104299
Winslow EH.
Patient education materials: can patients read them, or are they ending up in the trash?
American Journal of Nursing. 101(10):33-9, 2001 Oct.
Full text via Ovid
This article defines literacy and describes literacy screening tools and readability formulas.
Ovid MEDLINE
Unique Identifier: 11188460
Quirk PA.
Screening for literacy and readability: implications for the advanced practice nurse.
Clinical Nurse Specialist. 14(1):26-32, 2000 Jan.
Full text via Ovid
Shame can play an important role in how low literacy patients interact with health care providers. In this study, 67.2% of subjects had never told their spouses, and 53.4% had never told their children of their difficulties reading.
PsycINFO
Accession Number: 1996-02319-004.
Parikh NS. Parker RM. Nurss JR. Baker DW. Williams MV.
Shame and health literacy: The unspoken connection.
Patient Education & Counseling. 27(1)33-39, 1996 Jan.
Resource for health professionals providing plain language and clear design revisions for the public, private and voluntary sectors.
Canadian Public Health Association's (CPHA) Plain Language Service