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Improving Health Literacy


What is the priority?

  • Improve the health literacy of all Americans. Health literacy is the ability of an individual to access, understand, and use health-related information and services to make appropriate health decisions.

Why is this a priority?

  • More than 90 million Americans cannot adequately understand basic health information.
  • People of all ages, races, and income and education levels are affected.

How can we solve/address this priority?

  • Increase awareness within the medical community and among the general public about the importance of health literacy and the challenges presented by low health literacy.

How is the Office of the Surgeon General/HHS helping?

  • Building a robust health information system that provides equitable access.
  • Developing audience-appropriate information and support services for all segments of the population, especially under-served persons.
  • Training health professionals in the science of communication and the use of communication technologies.
  • Ensuring that Surgeon General communications are written in plain language that people can understand.


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