Wisconsin Literacy Launches New Health Literacy Website
Wisconsin Literacy fosters partnership between healthcare professionals and the people of Wisconsin
April 5, 2010Wisconsin Literacy created a website to foster partnerships between healthcare professionals and residents of Wisconsin to increase access and enhance understanding of health information and services. The new site, www.healthliteracywisconsin.org, encourages visitors to further explore the issue of health literacy, discover what the organization’s four regional committees are up to, and find resources for health-related activities, conferences and training.
Wisconsin is a national leader in the emerging field of health literacy, as evidenced by Wisconsin Literacy’s Third Biennial Health Literacy Summit in the spring of 2009. Health Literacy Wisconsin emphasizes the importance of health literacy skills and facilitating two-way communication between adult literacy agencies and healthcare providers.
“The issue of health literacy has a staggering price tag for our state. Wisconsin spends between 3.4 and 7.6 billion dollars each year on unnecessary healthcare expenditures due to poor communication from healthcare providers and a lack of understanding by many individuals in the system,” said Wisconsin Literacy Executive Director Michele Erikson. “With more individuals accessing health care in the future, it is imperative that we begin to improve health literacy now.”
From the Calgary Charter written in 2009, health literacy is the use of a wide range of skills by providers and patients that improve their ability to act on information in order to live healthier lives. These skills include reading, writing, listening, speaking, numeracy, and critical analysis, as well as communication and interaction skills.
According to the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy, approximately 36 percent of the U.S. adult population has only basic or below basic health literacy. Literacy skills are the strongest predictor of health status—more than age, income, employment status, education level or racial/ethnic group. Health Literacy Wisconsin aims to alleviate stress and confusion often experienced by those with low literacy levels by working with both healthcare providers on improved communication practices and embedding health literacy curricula into its volunteer-based literacy agencies that serve more than 15,000 adult learners.
Wisconsin is a national leader in the emerging field of health literacy, as evidenced by Wisconsin Literacy’s Third Biennial Health Literacy Summit in the spring of 2009. Health Literacy Wisconsin emphasizes the importance of health literacy skills and facilitating two-way communication between adult literacy agencies and healthcare providers.
“The issue of health literacy has a staggering price tag for our state. Wisconsin spends between 3.4 and 7.6 billion dollars each year on unnecessary healthcare expenditures due to poor communication from healthcare providers and a lack of understanding by many individuals in the system,” said Wisconsin Literacy Executive Director Michele Erikson. “With more individuals accessing health care in the future, it is imperative that we begin to improve health literacy now.”
From the Calgary Charter written in 2009, health literacy is the use of a wide range of skills by providers and patients that improve their ability to act on information in order to live healthier lives. These skills include reading, writing, listening, speaking, numeracy, and critical analysis, as well as communication and interaction skills.
According to the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy, approximately 36 percent of the U.S. adult population has only basic or below basic health literacy. Literacy skills are the strongest predictor of health status—more than age, income, employment status, education level or racial/ethnic group. Health Literacy Wisconsin aims to alleviate stress and confusion often experienced by those with low literacy levels by working with both healthcare providers on improved communication practices and embedding health literacy curricula into its volunteer-based literacy agencies that serve more than 15,000 adult learners.
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