Why Should Latinos Care About Health Literacy?

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The month of October is Health Literacy Month, making it a great time to explore equitable health resources for Latinos and all people.

Health Literacy Month was founded by Helen Osborne, M.Ed, OTR/L in 1999.

Today, Helen works to helps professionals communicate health information in ways that patients and the public can understand.

“By collectively working to improve health literacy, we’ll create a more equitable world where everyone can access high-quality care and achieve positive health outcomes,” according to the Institute for Healthcare Advancement (IHA).

Let’s dig deeper into the importance of Health Literacy Month and how you can take action for health literacy and health equity.

What is Health Literacy?

Health literacy can be defined in two ways, personal and organizational health literacy.

Personal health literacy is “how well a person can find, understand, and use information and services to make decisions about their own health and the health of others.”

Organizational health literacy is “how well organizations equitably help all people find, understand, and use information and services to make decisions about their own health and others.

While health literacy is crucial for all, it’s common for people and communities to have limited health literacy. This ultimately impacts one’s healthcare access and social determinants of health (SDoH), which drive health outcomes.

“Like other SDOH, limited health literacy is not evenly distributed among groups. This inequity contributes to health disparities—differences in health outcomes across groups,” according to the IHA.

A 2023 study found that health literacy was lowest among:

  • People ages 18-24.
  • Those who identified as multi-racial.
  • People who are separated (marital status).
  • Those who didn’t graduate from high school.
  • Those who’ve been out of work for more than 1 year.
  • People with incomes less than $10,000.
  • Those with other living arrangements (housing status).
  • People living in a suburban county of a metropolitan statistical area.

With limited health literacy, these population groups face barriers to health equity, where everyone has a fair, just opportunity to be their healthiest.

Why is Health Literacy Important?

Health literacy is a priority, especially in communities that face health inequities and have a distrust for the medical system, such as Latinos.

“Using health literacy best practices can build trust and advance health equity. Trust is an important part of a person’s willingness to engage in care and behaviors that promote health,” according to the CDC.

The CDC also recommends ways to improve health literacy within clinical, community, and public health institutions:

  • Use plain language
  • Use your audience’s preferred language and communication channels
  • Use culturally and linguistically appropriate language

“Businesses, educators, community leaders, government agencies, health insurers, healthcare providers, the media, and many other organizations and individuals all have a part to play in improving health literacy in our society,” according to the CDC.

Explore Health Literacy Resources

For personal health literacy, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Spanish Health Information Portal offers a wealth of free, science-based health information in Spanish.

Courtesy of the IHA.

The CDC’s webpage on health literacy has training opportunities, activities, and updates, as well as actives and resources by state.

The IHA Learning Lab has many health literacy resources, including:

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) also provides healthy literacy resources for health professionals.

Similarly, the MyHealthfinder tool helps healthcare workers and organizations to connect people to a wide variety of easy-to-understand information about preventive health services and resources.

The National Hispanic Medical Association also has health literacy resources for Latino healthcare professionals at HispanicHealth.info.

Building Health Literacy Where You Live

How can you improve your own health literacy while learning more about the health status of your own community?

Look no further than the Health Equity Report Card at Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio.

Enter your county name and get auto-generated Latino-focused and local data with interactive maps and comparative gauges, which can help you visualize and explore local inequities in housing, health care, food, education, and more.

Search your county and compare the results to the rest of your state and nation.

Share the results with local leaders and health organizations to advocate for change and start important conversations about health disparities in your area.

Get your Health Equity Report Card!

By The Numbers By The Numbers

142

Percent

Expected rise in Latino cancer cases in coming years

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