The association between literacy and health: providing health information to adults with low literacy

“Health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic information and services needed to make appropriate decisions regarding their health” (Nielsen-Bohlman, Panzer, and Kindig, 2004). Based on this definition from health People 2010 (U.S. DHHS, 2000), health literacy encompasses much more than reading and numeracy skills; it is also a measure of conceptual knowledge. While even literate, educated adults can have low health literacy, the problem is even more significant for those millions of adults who cannot read.