Health Literacy
Health literacy is defined as the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand health information and services needed to make appropriate decisions about their health. People must understand how to access and apply health information to seek medical care, take medications correctly, and follow prescribed treatments. Health literacy involves reading as well and other skills (e.g. writing, listening, speaking, numeracy, and critical analysis) to perform health-related tasks. According to a national survey, over one-third of the adult population has limited health literacy. Limited health literacy is associated with medication errors, increased health care costs, and inadequate knowledge, and inability to manage chronic health conditions.
IHS 2023 HEALTH LITERACY ANNUAL AWARD RECIPIENTS
Health Literacy Team Champion Award: Recognition of IHS team that demonstrates innovative, practical solutions, and contributes to effective communication to empower people to make informed decisions to improve their health.
Parker Indian Health Center Purchased Referred Care
Recognition of IHS leader and team that demonstrates high commitment, effort, and patience when providing education regarding PRC to the staff and community they serve. The Parker Indian Health Center Purchased Referred Care Supervisor and department staff always provide education regarding Purchased Referred Care (PRC) whenever they get a chance. The supervisor and staff members have created visual boards, and handouts, and attended events to provide education to the communities they serve verbally. They also provide visual and verbal education to providers and other staff when requested about the process of PRC. This is a great example when it comes to the importance of health literacy and the care of patients. PRC is a difficult area/ department within IHS, however, this team strives to provide education/ information to all levels of individuals internally and externally regarding PRC. The Parker Indian Health Center Purchased/ Referred Care department has a great leader who is always willing to share what knowledge they have with their team.
Team Members:
- Sally Hooke
- Patricia George
- Savannah Martinez
- Erin Thompson
- Tiffani Anderson
- Lola Ward
- Georgette Watchman
- Gail Lewis
- Angela Drennan
Congratulations to the 2022 IHS Health Literacy Award recipients for the individual and team categories:
Individual Category
- Violeta M. Pantaleon, RN, Northern Navajo Medical Center
Team Category
- Mescalero Service Unit – Opioid Stewardship Program
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Learn more about health literacy
- Watch the online IHS Introduction to Health Literacy training for Tribal and Urban Indian Health programs.
- IHS employees can complete the online IHS Introduction to Health Literacy training available through the HHS Learning Management System.
- IHS White paper on Health Literacy [PDF - 121 KB]
- The National Library of Medicine’s Health Literacy Page
- The Center for Disease Control’s Health Literacy Page
- The National Institutes of Health Health Literacy Page
- The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit
- The AHRQ Pharmacy Health Literacy Center