The Rockford Regional Partnership for Health Literacy (RRPHL) and the Literacy Council are sponsoring, “Health Literacy Seminar 2010, An Introduction to Health Literacy” on Tuesday, October 12 from 5:30-8:00 p.m. The event will be held at the University of Illinois Rockford at 1601 Parkview Avenue with support from OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center, Rockford Health System and SwedishAmerican Health System. There is no cost to attend. Register by contacting Joella Warner at 815.395.5703 or joellaw@uic.edu.
The event, designed for anyone working with the public in the healthcare profession, will feature Paul D. Smith, MD, is an associate professor in the department of Family Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the Director of the Wisconsin Research and Education Network (WREN) and a volunteer on the board of directors for Wisconsin Literacy. He is currently the principal investigator for a focus group study of health literacy issues among low literate adults, and a project to train adult basic education students to be consultants assisting a hospital working to improve its health literacy environment.
Crusader Community Health, Health Literacy - Medical Student Project, Merck, National Library of Medicine, Rockford Regional Literacy and the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford will host exhibit booths.
Functional health literacy is “the ability to read and comprehend prescription bottles, appointment slips and other essential health related materials required to successfully function as a patient.” (AMA Council of Scientific Affairs). Health literacy varies by context and setting, and is not necessarily related to years of education or general reading ability.
Low literacy has been linked to poor health outcomes, higher rates of hospitalization and less frequent use of preventive services. According to the 1993 National Adult Literacy Survey, as many as 30 million people or 14 percent of all adults 16 and over had below basic literacy skills; twenty-nine percent (62 million) had only basic skills. According to data from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy, only 12 percent of adults have proficient health literacy. An estimated $106-236 billion in annual healthcare costs is attributed to low literacy. (University of Connecticut, 2007)