Organizational Systems, Policies, and Health Literacy
The organizational systems and policies domain includes skills and knowledge associated with creating health literate organizations. Developing leadership support for health literacy – the first of 10 Attributes of a Health Literate Health Care Organization, is key, as is hardwiring health literacy interventions into workflows and communicating qualitative and quantitative measures of effectiveness. A Health Literacy Specialist (HLS) working within an organization would:
- Address the strong relationship between the social determinants of health and health literacy in action plans.
- Integrate health literacy universal precautions throughout the organization.• Advise on the development of policies and procedures that reflect evidence-based health literacy principles.
- Identify high-risk situations that impede understanding of health information and services, and develop strategies to remove or mitigate effects of these impediments.
- Apply health literacy research and best practices to health programs and interventions.
- Build organizational awareness of the consequences of limited health literacy, including the financial implications of limited health literacy and the health literacy interventions designed to address it.
- Confirm that health literacy practices and materials comply with accreditation, standards, and regulations (e.g., CLAS, Federal Plain Writing Act, Medicaid, National Health Education Standards).
- Evaluate health literacy outcomes of quality and performance improvement initiatives.