Advancing Research in Health Literacy

描述（由申请人提供）：美国国立卫生研究院（NIH）将健康素养定义为个人有能力获取、处理和理解做出适当健康决策所需的基本健康信息和服务的程度。不幸的是，22%的美国成年人只有基本的健康知识，另有14%的人低于基本的健康知识。有限的读写能力与不良健康结果之间的关系已被充分记录，医学研究所、医疗保健研究和质量机构、美国医学协会和医院组织认证联合委员会等机构发表了关于健康读写能力问题的开创性报告。每一份报告都主张进一步研究，在卫生保健系统内制定有效的应对措施，以解决这一问题，卫生素养方面的研究已开始蓬勃发展。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): 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. In this grant application we propose to deliver a series of annual conferences along a three-year trajectory dedicated to the promotion of the field of health literacy research. The Institute of Medicine Health Literacy Round Table will provide meeting space and support dissemination via their Web site and by publishing proceedings of the meetings with the National Academies Press. This annual meeting will be designed to provide a venue to focus attention on health literacy research, emphasizing two important sub-themes each year (Y1: health disparities and information technology applications for patients with chronic diseases; Y2: cancer and the elderly; Y3: patient safety and child health). The meeting will serve as an incubator for young investigators and will encourage a cross-disciplinary exchange of knowledge and collaboration. We aim to create an environment in which controversial topics within the research community can be openly discussed.