Our Mission Statement

Our goal: supporting healthy living through improved health literacy

Our mission: To provide families in New York with the ability and skills to live healthier lives, physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually, by providing instruction in necessary health literacy skills as identified by the federal government.

What is health literacy? The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act defines it as “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, communicate, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.” In other words, Health Literacy comprises the skills and knowledge one’s doctor, government, and insurance company expect a person to have in order to make good health choices. These can include finding providers, using preventative services, researching health concerns, applying health information to your lifestyle, as well as understanding how public health emergencies can impact one’s personal health.

Who struggles with health literacy skills? The Center for Disease Control estimates that 88% of Americans struggle with some health literacy skills. And that figure does not take into account the growing importance of public health preparedness as a feature of health literacy.

How does Health Literacy for All help? Through ongoing classes, seminars, and online education, we provide people with ways to improve their health literacy skills and knowledge. Using the curriculums Health Literacy and You, Florida’s Health Literacy Initiative, or What to Do When Your Child is Sick, Health Literacy for All will address the needs of low health literate people throughout New York State. These educational tools will be designed for kids, teens, adults, and seniors, seeking to provide improved skills to all New York families by teaching someone within the home. Courses will be taught through traditional health facilities, but also through businesses, schools, employers, religious institutions and community programs. Additionally, specialty classes will address the unique needs of the mentally ill, the homeless, PTSD survivors, domestic violence victims, alcohol and drug addicts, and other sub-populations whose life choices may permanently impact their health.

Our Vision Statement

To create an organization that becomes the ultimate resource for health literacy skills for individuals throughout the United States as they carry out their inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, as well as, a resource for other countries looking to train their citizens on health literacy skills. To create physical and online training centers focusing not only on patient health literacy skills, but also providing education to traditional and non-traditional medical professionals who are seeking a better understanding of patient decisions.

Our Values

  1. The human body was fearfully and wonderfully made, and each individual should be taught to take excellent care of their body, as well as train the next generation on how to do so.
  2. Traditional and non-traditional approaches to medicine and health care can and should work together to help people learn about their bodies and how daily choices impact their future.
  3. Good health and wellbeing underlies our ability to actively pursue our rights as Americans.
  4. Every American should be taught the health literacy skills needed to know how to make healthy choices, including the ability to incorporate future improvements in our health/medical knowledge.
  5. Healthy decisions today are the foundation of a future of wellbeing.

Some Definitions

Health: the complete state of physical, mental, social, and spiritual wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease

Health Literacy: the underlying skills and knowledge necessary to make healthy lifestyle choices, navigate the healthcare system in sickness and in health, and to be able to respond appropriately to a public health emergency.

Wellbeing: Beyond simply preventing disease, it includes awareness and growth in all aspects of life.