1. HEALTH LITERACY MONTH WORKSHOP Tools to help find and use health information

2. Evaluating your Health Literacy Needs Health literacy can come in many forms, to learn the ways you may be affected by health literacy type the link below into your internet browser http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HealthLiteracyMonth

3. Some Statistics  Almost 45% of the United States population (or 93 million Americans) have only basic or below basic literacy skills  7.8 million seniors can only perform the most simple and concrete literacy skills  Effects of low health literacy cost $50 - $73 billion in additional health expenditures annually  Literacy Rate by age: http://www.npsf.org/pchc/health-literacy.php

4. Types of Health Literacy  Finding Health Information  Searching the Internet  Communicating with Health Professionals  Asking Questions  Understanding Health Information  Alleviating confusion during doctor visits  Learning about conditions, tests, and procedures  Implementing Health Information  Experiencing trouble when filling out forms  Difficulty taking medications  Difficulty sticking to a prescribed treatment plan

5. Finding Health Information The tool most of us will default to first is the internet. When using the internet to search for health information remember these tips.  Look for the sponsor of the site  Determine the currency of the site  Examine the factual information available  Understand the audience the information is written for http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/webeval/webeval_start.html Helpful Hint: If you start with a website you already trust, you will face less conflicting information and frustration. See the “Top 10 Consumer Websites” handout for some widely used sites.

6. Understanding Health Information Tools for communicating with your doctor:  The Teach Back Method  Plain Language Communication  Patient Advocacy http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/medicalwords.html

7. Implementing Health Information Problems with implementing health information often starts from lack of understanding or lack of information  Question Lists http://www.ahrq.gov/questionsaretheanswer/question Builder.aspx http://www.ahrq.gov/questionsaretheanswer/question Builder.aspx  Patient Advocacy  Your Health Record Google Health

8. Questions and Wrap-Up  Let’s re-evaluate! http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HealthLiteracyMonthPostTest