"Everyone, no matter how educated, is at risk for misunderstanding health information if the topic is emotionally charged or complex." This is one of a number of research findings on health literacy described by the National Institutes of Health.

Healthy People 2030 summarizes evidence related to health literacy and includes two definitions which are interrelated:

• 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
• Organizational health literacy is the degree to which organizations equitably enable individuals to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others

Additional resources, tips and training opportunities may be found at:

• National Institutes of Health - Health Literacy Month
• MedlinePlus - Health Literacy
• Institute for Healthcare Advancement (IHA) - Health Literacy Month