Resources for Health Professionals

The North Carolina Health Literacy Council is dedicated to providing healthcare professionals, health system administrators, and public health professionals with information and tools that will improve patient communication. Providing educational patient materials that are written in plain language is essential to quality patient care. Use the links below and our toolkit to get started.

Health Literacy Environment of Hospitals and Health Centers
http://www.ncsall.net/index.php?id=1163
A culture audit toolkit produced by NCSALL to help assess and improve the health literacy environment in health care settings.

Information-sharing Unified Health Communication: Addressing Health Literacy, Cultural Competency, and Limited English Proficiency
http://www.train.org
(program developed by the Health Resources and Service Administration)

Pharmacy Staff Training Program
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/pharmlit/practice.htm
A training program for pharmacy staff designed to introduce pharmacists to the problem of low health literacy in patient populations and to identify the implications of this problem for the delivery of health care services. The program also explains techniques that pharmacy staff members can use to improve communication with patients who may have limited health literacy skills (Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality- AHRQ).

Asthma Low-Literacy Information
http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/asthma/resourcebank
In response to the need for easily accessible, reliable materials, a collaboration of healthcare providers in Oregon came together to create the nationally recognized Oregon Asthma Resource Bank website and produce a variety of asthma education handouts and provider tools.

Diabetes Low-Literacy Information
http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/diabetes/resourcebank
In response to the need for easily accessible, reliable education materials about diabetes, the Oregon Diabetes Program partnered with the Oregon Diabetes Coalition to create the Oregon Diabetes Resource Bank website.