Welcome to My Route to Health®

Health Literacy is the “degree to which an individual has the capacity to obtain, communicate, process and understand basic health information and services to make appropriate health decisions” ^i,ii

Health Literacy is a central focus of the US Department of Health and Human Services to eliminate health disparities, achieve health equity and attain health literacy to improve the health and well-being of all. In fact, there is a new definition of health literacy that now addresses both personal and organizational health literacy.^iii,iv

• Personal: This new definition provides focus on the ability for a person to not only obtain and understand, but to use information to inform their personal health decisions for themselves and their loved ones.
  • For example, we may know that it is important to exercise and eat well, but how do we go from knowing something to doing something?  
• Organizational: This new definition focuses on the degree to which organizations help people find, understand and use health information to inform their personal health decisions for themselves and their loved ones.
  • For example, if an organization wants employees or customers to exercise more, how can they share that information in a way that people can access it, understand it and take action to do it?

Limited health literacy is a public health problem^v. Health literacy is important for individuals and organizations – with the power to improve the accessibility, quality, and safety of health care; reduce costs; and improve the health and quality of life of millions of people in the United States^v. Our lives depend on it.

Health education declines from kindergarten to grade 12 – from 33% in kindergarten to 2% in grade 12. The absence of a coordinated health education program across the school years may impede student learning of vital health literacy skills.^vi

• Nine out of 10 adults struggle to understand and use health information when it is unfamiliar or complex ^vii.
• Limited health literacy costs the healthcare system money and results in higher than necessary morbidity and mortality.
• In our modern society, there are many competing sources of health information – from national media to the internet - that intensify the need for improved health literacy ^viii. It is important to know which sources of health information are reliable and accurate.