Advancing Research in Health Literacy

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Advancing Research in Health Literacy The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has defined health literacy as the "degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions." Unfortunately, fully 22% of US adults have only basic and an additional 14% have below basic health literacy. The relationship between limited literacy and adverse health outcomes has been well documented, and seminal reports about the "problem of health literacy" have been issued by the Institute of Medicine, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, American Medical Association, and Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Hospital Organizations among others. Each of these reports advocates further research to develop an effective response within health care systems to address the problem and research in health literacy has begun to flourish. An important next step to cultivate this emerging research field is to create a national professional interdisciplinary home for investigators dedicated to health literacy research. Currently no such venue exists other than this meeting. In this grant application we propose to deliver the fourth annual conference along a multi-year trajectory dedicated to the promotion of the field of health literacy research. The Journal of Health Communication will support dissemination with the fourth special issue of the journal dedicated to health literacy with papers from the meeting, edited by Dr. Paasche-Orlow. This annual meeting will be designed to provide a venue to focus attention on health literacy research, emphasizing two important subthemes each year. In year four, the sub-themes will be the role of health literacy in health disparities and the role of health literacy in prevention and care management. The meeting will serve as an incubator for young investigators and will encourage a cross-disciplinary exchange of knowledge and collaboration.