What is Health Literacy?
Personal health literacy is a skill that helps you navigate the health care system. It is your ability to access, understand, and apply basic health information and services to make the best health decisions for yourself and others.
Organizational Health Literacy is skill that helps organizations provide people equitable access to information and services so people may make the best health decisions for themselves and others.
Health literacy is important because at some point in your life you will need to be able to find, understand, and use health information and services. Taking care of your health is part of everyday life, not just when you visit a doctor, clinic, or hospital. Health literacy can help you prevent health problems, and better manage health problems when they happen.
How Rockford Ready is Improving Health Literacy
To help improve health literacy in Rockford, our partners at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine, Office of Health Literacy held health literacy and cultural competence trainings for community residents representing 9 health care organizations, 8 community organizations and 2 medical schools in Rockford. These trainings covered topics such as health literacy, health equity, cultural humility and tools to advance the health of residents experiencing health disparities. Furthermore, Rockford Ready encourages all residents to read and share the health literacy resources found on this site.
Health Literacy Resources
- DOWNLOAD OUR INDIVIDUAL HEALTH LITERACY TOOLKIT
Check out our toolkit on health literacy developed with Rockford residents in mind. - CDC What is Health Literacy?
Get a baseline understanding of health literacy. - Assess Your Organizational Health Literacy
Browse assessment tools to learn if your organization is health literate. - Find Organizational Health Literacy Trainings
Find free trainings available to boost your health literacy. - Test the Readability of Your Communications
Concerned your communications may be difficult to understand? Look no further! Sample your copy here. - Download our Health Literacy One-Pager
Learn about Rockford Ready, Health Literacy and tips to improve your own health literacy. - Voices of Rockford Present: Health Literacy Looks Like
In honor of Health Literacy Month, faith leaders in Rockford came together to discuss practical ways we can practice health literacy in our daily lives.
