Health Literacy for Interprofessional Education (IPE) eToolkit
- About this eToolkit
- For Interprofessional Education Faculty
- Definition: Health Literacy
- Prevalence of Health Literacy in U.S. Adults
- Identifying Patients with Low Health Literacy
- Patient Communication: Active Listening
- Patient Communication: Jargon-Free Medical Terms
- Patient Communication: Plain Language & Clear Communication
- Patient Communication: Teach Back
- Patient Communication: Writing Low-Literate Patient Materials
- Universal Precautions for Health Literacy/Shame Free Practices/Clinical Environments
- Connection Between Low Health Literacy and Patient Outcomes
- Culture, Language and Low Health Literacy
- The Patient's Experience of Low Health Literacy
- Numeracy
- Health Policy for Health Literacy
- Patient Education Resources
- Environmental Assessments
- Telehealth
Intro to Plain Language
Plain language means just that: speaking in language that is clear and easy to understand. This can be hard in healthcare where medical terminology and acronyms prevail. Fortunately, there is a concerted effort to help healthcare professionals incorporate plain language into their daily practice in both oral and written communication. These resources can help.
Federal Plain Language Law & Healthcare
The President of the United States signed into law the Plain Writing Act of 2010 (H.R. 946/Public Law 111-274) on October 13, 2010. The law requires that all federal agencies, e.g. National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, use "clear Government communication that the public can understand and use."
The following websites explain and promote plain language communication:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Issue Brief: Plain Language: A Promising Strategy for Clearly Communicating Health Information and improving Health Literacy. A good (and brief) overview of the primary concepts of plain language and its importance in addressing problems with health literacy.
PlainLanguage.gov. Resources from the U.S.Government's Plain Language website. Lots of helpful guidelines, tips & tools, even an online training course!
National Institutes of Health: Plain Language at NIH. A brief explanation of what plain language is and links to resources to support plain language communication.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Plain Language. Includes the helpful Every Day Words for Public Health Communication tool.
Articles - Plain Language Communication
- Say What? Dangers of Miscommunicatingby Seth Ginsberg. June 11, 2017. MEDPAGETODAY.
This brief online post clearly articulates how a simple directive given by a healthcare provider may be misunderstood by the patient with possibly catastrophic results.
Plain Language Tools
- Plain Language Medical DictionaryThe Plain Language Medical Dictionary is a project of the University of Michigan Taubman Health Sciences Library as part of the Michigan Health Literacy Awareness project. Simply put in your medical word and the dictionary will find plain language substitutes.
- Medical Terms in Lay LanguageFrom the University of Iowa's Human Subjects Office, a glossary of medical terms edited from a copyrighted list by the University of Kentucky.
- Plain Language Thesaurus For Health CommunicationsThis Plain Language Thesaurus was created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Marketing. The Thesaurus offers plain language equivalents to medical terms, phrases, and references often used by healthcare providers. Using plain language equivalents may help your patients better understand important health or medical communication.