In this episode of JPHMP Direct Talk, authors Dushanka Kleinman and Cindy Brach discuss their article, “Updating Health Literacy for Healthy People 2030,” published ahead of print in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice.

Healthy People 2030 (HP2030), the fifth iteration of the Healthy People initiative, provides science-based national health objectives with targets to improve the health and well-being of Americans. For the first time since its 1979 establishment, the Healthy People framework aims to attain health literacy as an Overarching Goal and Foundational Principle to achieving health and well-being. Growing literature on health literacy describes it as a concept not solely reliant on individual capabilities but also on organizations’ ability to make health-related information and services equitably accessible and comprehensible.

Listen to the full conversation here:

Podcast Addendum: Cindy Brach would like to add that the 2015 National CLAS Standards explicitly incorporated health literacy into the standards, and that health literacy recognizes that addressing language and culture are required to be health literate. She would also like to point out that minority populations are disproportionately represented among US adults who have limited personal health literacy, so that when we direct interventions to that group, we are also addressing racial and ethnic disparities.

Learn More

• Updating Health Literacy for Healthy People 2030: Defining Its Importance for a New Decade in Public Health
• Addressing Health Equity and Social Determinants of Health Through Healthy People 2030
• Healthy People for the 21st Century: Understanding Use of Healthy People 2020 as a Web-Based Initiative
• Healthy People 2030: A Compass in the Storm
• Promoting Health and Well-being in Healthy People 2030
• Healthy People 2030: A Call to Action to Lead America to Healthier Lives

Related Links

• Ten Attributes of Health Literate Health Care Organizations and AHRQ tools to address them
• AHRQ Health Literacy Microsite
• AHRQ Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit, 2nd edition and companion implementation guide 
• Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool
• Attributes of Health Literate Organizations podcast
• CDC’s modified version of the attributes of health literate organizations to apply to organizations doing public health work
• NASEM Roundtable for Health Literacy

Healthy People

• Health Literacy in Healthy People 2030
• Healthy People 2030 Framework
• Issue Briefs to Inform the Development and Implementation of Healthy People 2030: Health Literacy

Professional Training and Education

• A Model Partnership to Develop a Health Literate Care Curriculum: Preparing the Next Generation of Physicians to Deliver Excellent Outcomes and Patient Experiences
•  Health Literacy Training for Public Health Professionals

Other HHS Resources

• National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy
• CDC’s health literacy website
• The National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in Health and Health Care: A Blueprint for Advancing and Sustaining CLAS Policy and Practice
• America’s Health Literacy: Why We Need Accessible Health Information

You May Also Enjoy

• JPHMP Direct Talk Podcast: Addressing Health Equity and SDOH Through Healthy People 2030 with Cynthia A. Gomez and Carter Blakey
• Infographic: Promoting Health and Well-being in Healthy People 2030
• JPHMP Direct Talk Podcast: Health and Well-being in Healthy People 2030 with Nico Pronk and Dushanka Kleinman

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Dushanka V. Kleinman DDS, MScD, is the Principal Associate Dean, Associate Dean for Research and Professor, School of Public Health, University of Maryland at College Park. She recently completed serving as the co-chair of the HHS Secretary’s Advisory Committee on National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives for 2030.

 

Cindy Brach is a Senior Health Care Researcher at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), part of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Cindy co-chairs the HHS Health Literacy Work Group and serves on the Healthy People Health Communication and Health Information Technology Workgroup.