Advancing Health Literacy Project (AHL)

There are many things that influence our ability to attain our highest level of health, and many of them are out of our control. These factors are called the social determinants of health (SDOH) and include access to healthcare, the physical environment, workplace conditions, exposure to violence, food instability, access to education, and financial security. These are not necessarily part of our medical care, but are influenced by systems and forces, such as economic policies, urban and rural development, social norms, racism, climate change, and political systems. According to Healthy People 2030, health literacy is also a social determinant of health and is interconnected with many other determinants like race, age, and educational attainment. These influence and are most often the cause of health disparities.  

Health disparities are “preventable differences in the burden of disease, injury, violence, or in opportunities to achieve optimal health experienced by socially disadvantaged racial, ethnic, and other population groups and communities” (NIH).

Health equity is “the state in which everyone has a fair and just opportunity to attain their highest level of health” (CDC).

Health inequity involves systematic differences in the health status and the distribution of health resources of different groups of people. Health inequities are often responsible for health disparities that are deemed unfair or stem from some form of injustice. Many health inequities today are avoidable, unnecessary, and unjust. 

Individual health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the ability to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others. 

Functional health literacy includes basic reading and writing skills, as well as communication of information. It can also be called foundational health literacy because it is the groundwork for reaching higher levels of literacy and health literacy.  

Interactive health literacy, also known as communicative health literacy, refers to the skills that are used as an active participant in everyday situations. This includes the ability to recognize and understand health information and apply this to changing circumstances.  

Critical health literacy refers to the cognitive and social skills needed to critically assess the reliability and applicability of health information to personal situations. Having critical health literacy involves both personal and community empowerment and being able to advocate for oneself and others.  

Organizational health literacy is the degree to which organizations equitably enable individuals to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others. A health literate organization takes steps to ensure their workforce is prepared to be conscious of health literacy, has leadership that makes health literacy a foundational aspect of the organization’s core values, and meets the needs of all within their patient population.  

Digital health literacy is the ability to acquire and evaluate health information from electronic sources and use that information to inform health problems, decisions, and actions.