In 2004, the Institute of Medicine released Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion, a report on the then-underappreciated challenge of enabling patients to comprehend their condition and treatment, to make the best decisions for their care, and to take the right medications at the right time in the intended dose. That report documented the problems, origins, and consequences of the fact that tens of millions of U.S. adults are unable to read complex texts, including many health-related materials, and it proposed possible solutions to those problems.

To commemorate the anniversary of the release of the 2004 health literacy report, the Institute of Medicine's Roundtable on Health Literacy convened a 1-day public workshop to assess the progress made in the field of health literacy over the past decade, the current state of the field, and the future of health literacy at the local, national, and international levels. Health Literacy: Past, Present, and Future summarizes the presentation and discussion of the workshop.

Contents

• The National Academies of SCIENCE • ENGINEERING • MEDICINE
• PLANNING COMMITTEE ON HEALTH LITERACY: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE
• ROUNDTABLE ON HEALTH LITERACY
• Reviewers
• Acknowledgments
• Acronyms and Abbreviations
• 1. Introduction
  • ORGANIZATION OF THE SUMMARY
• 2. Health Literacy at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Progress and Possibilities
  • DISCUSSION
• 3. Health Literacy and Medications
  • OVERVIEW
  • CREATING A STANDARD AND BEST PRACTICES FOR MEDICATION PRESCRIPTION LABELS
  • HEALTH LITERACY AT THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION
  • DISCUSSION
• 4. Use and Delivery of Health Care
  • OVERVIEW
  • HEALTH LITERACY AND QUALITY
  • CREATING HEALTH-LITERATE HEALTH CARE DELIVERY
  • HEALTH LITERACY AND THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
  • DISCUSSION
• 5. Education
  • OVERVIEW
  • HEALTH LITERACY IN PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
  • EDUCATION IN ORAL HEALTH LITERACY
  • DISCUSSION
• 6. Looking to the Future
  • THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN HEALTH LITERACY
  • HEALTH LITERACY AND POPULATION AND PUBLIC HEALTH
  • RESEARCH ON HEALTH LITERACY
  • HEALTH LITERACY AND DISPARITIES
  • DISCUSSION
• 7. Where Do We Go from Here?
  • DISCUSSION
• References
• APPENDIXES
  • Appendix A Workshop Agenda
  • Appendix B Biographical Sketches of Workshop Speakers

Rapporteur: Joe Alper.

This activity was supported by contracts between the National Academy of Sciences and the Aetna Foundation; the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (HHSP233200900537P); the California Dental Association; the East Bay Community Foundation (Kaiser Permanente); Eli Lilly and Company; Health Literacy Missouri; Health Resources and Services Administration (HHSH25034004T); Humana; the Institute for Healthcare Advancement; Merck & Co., Inc; National Institutes of Health; North Shore–Long Island Jewish Health System; Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion; and UnitedHealth Group. The views presented in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the activity.

Suggested citation:

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2015. Health literacy: Past, present, and future: Workshop summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.