General Links

Health Literacy is a growing concern among academics, health professionals and community organizers. Below you will find a list of websites that may help suppliment your understanding of health literacy and what to do about it.

Advancing Health Literacy
http://www.advancinghealthliteracy.com/curricula.html
This page is a result of a discussion on the National Institute for Literacy Health and Literacy listserv. Purposefully kept in very simple HTML to allow easy access to all users, the page allows visitors to either directly download or link to online health literacy curricula. These are not screened in any fashion, so inclusion on this page is not an indication of quality or approval. Submissions are accepted on an ongoing basis.

Health Information Translations
http://www.healthinfotranslations.com/
A Collaborative Initiative to Improve Health Education for Limited English Proficiency Patients. Health information is categorized and translated into many different languages.

Healthy Roads Media
http://www.healthyroadsmedia.org/about_us.htm
This site contains free health education materials in a number of languages and a variety of formats, including handouts, audio, multimedia, web video, and mobile video.

National Institute for Literacy - Health Literacy Discussion List
http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/healthliteracy
Read postings and ask questions regarding health literacy.

National Cancer Institute
http://www.cancer.gov/aboutnci/oc/clear-and-simple/page1
Clear & Simple: Developing Effective Print Materials for Low-Literate Readers outlines a process for developing publications for people with limited-literacy skills. The process was derived from communications, health education, and literacy research and practice. In addition, writers who have produced low-literacy materials contributed their expertise. Thus, the guide features both proven principles and a discussion of the real life issues that individuals developing low-literacy materials face, such as the constraints of time, budget, organizational pressures, and the Government publications process.

In-Brief Videos
http://www.inbriefvideos.com/
With the use of storytelling, this site provides a creative way to put complex topics into context, and to jumpstart a process of developing a deeper understanding. The first video released was "Diabetes In-Brief for Kids". In this video, a mother answers her daughter's question, "What is Diabetes?" The mother puts the concept into context when she talks about the child's aunt and friend who have diabetes. This delightful story uses images and vocabulary children can understand.

Readability

PRISM
http://centerforhealthstudies.org/sciresc/readability/readability_home.html
Project to Review and Improve Study Materials is an initiative to improve the readability of print materials. The PRISM Readability Toolkit is a comprehensive resource that provides research teams with tools to help support the creation of study materials that can be easily read by the average participant.

Readability Formulas and Calculators
The Smog Readability Formula
Fog Readability Formula
Flesch - Kinkaid Readability Formula
SMOG Readability Calculator

AskMe3
http://www.npsf.org/askme3/
A patient education program designed to promote communication between healthcare providers and patients, in order to improve health outcomes. The site includes presentations, tool kits for professionals and patients, factsheets, brochures, statistics, logos and guidelines and more.

Center for Medicare Education/Writing East to Read Materials
http://www.ihconline.org/toolkits/HealthLiteracy/WritingEasyToReadMaterials.pdf
A brief guide to writing health communications in plain language.

Medline Plus/Writing Easy to Read Health Materials
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/etr.html
Quick tips on how to write clearly; includes links to examples and translation into Spanish.

Simply Put
http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/simpput.pdf
The Centers for Disease Control’s guide to creating easy to read materials.

Creating and Assessing Print Materials
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/healthliteracy/materials.html#three
Comprehensive guide from the Harvard School of Public Health.

Translation

Translating Materials for Non-English Speaking Audiences
http://www.medicareed.org/PublicationFiles/V1N3.pdf
Center for Medicare Education’s guide on how-to translate written health materials, including important considerations.

Health Graphics

USP Pictograms
http://www.usp.org/audiences/consumers/pictograms/
US Pharmacopeia pictogram images showing how to take and store medicines

CDC Public Health Image Library
http://phil.cdc.gov/phil/home.asp
Photographs, illustrations, and video images of health concerns.

Diabetes Clip Art
http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/gallery.htm
Clipart images developed by CDC for the publication, “Take Charge of Your Diabetes.”

Universal Symbols in Healthcare
http://www.segdservices.com/resources/symbols.html
Health care symbols and information on how they can be integrated into wayfinding systems.