Health Literacy:        

Health literacy is defined as the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.

Promoting health literacy at organizational, provider and heath care consumer levels is important for more effective patient-provider communication.  This is particularly important for patients of color at risk for disparate negative health outcomes.

Barriers to
Health Literacy:

CT Health Senior Program Officer Elizabeth Krause recently coauthored an article in the American Nurses Association’s Online Journal of Issues in Nursing.  “Understanding Cultural and Linguistic Barriers to Health Literacy” discusses how culture and language set the context for acquiring and applying health literacy skills for many patients of color.  

The CT Health Foundation’s website features an analysis of how the needle has moved in Connecticut over the last 10 years to close the racial and ethnic health disparities gap.