October is Health Literacy Month

It's one of our favorite times of year for the Library for Health Information: Health Literacy Month! We exist to provide accurate, reliable consumer health information for the public. Whether you are a patient searching to make sense of terminology or a physician looking to explain information in the simplest way possible, we are here to serve you. 

What is personal health literacy?

According to the CDC, "Personal health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the ability to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others."

What the CDC wants you to know about health literacy:

• Nearly nine out of 10 adults struggle to understand and use personal and public health information when it’s filled with unfamiliar or complex terms.
• Limited health literacy results in higher than necessary morbidity and mortality. 
• Improving health literacy could prevent nearly 1 million hospital visits and save over $25 billion a year.
• When organizations choose to use medical jargon, it is an act of exclusion.

How can the LHI help you improve your health literacy?

• We have a dedicated Consumer Health Librarian, Missy Creed (featured on the right), who can point you to materials for a better understanding of your health information or how to effectively and equitably communicate health information to patients. 
• The library can help you understand and utilize PubMed resources

For more resources, please email your questions to an LHI librarian at health-info@osu.edu, or call us at (614) 293-3707. All information is free and confidential.

The Library for Health Information is here for you. To find out more, visit the LHI webpage.