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Rural Health Information Hub
Rural Health Information Hub

Ten Attributes of Health Literate Health Care Organizations

The Ten Attributes of Health Literate Health Care Organizations were created by the National Academies Roundtable on Health Literacy. The document that outlines these attributes has been used as a guide for many organizations to plan and implement their health literacy efforts. This approach acknowledges that health literacy is an essential component of healthcare organizations and that organizations with these attributes make it easier for people to navigate, comprehend, and use health information and services. The ten attributes of a health literate organization include:

  1. “Has leadership that makes health literacy integral to its mission, structure, and operations.
  2. Integrates health literacy into planning, evaluation measures, patient safety, and quality improvement.
  3. Prepares the workforce to be health literate and monitors progress.
  4. Includes populations served in the design, implementation, and evaluation of health information and services.
  5. Meets the needs of populations with a range of health literacy skills while avoiding stigmatization.
  6. Uses health literacy strategies in interpersonal communications and confirms understanding at all points of contact.
  7. Provides easy access to health information and services and navigation assistance.
  8. Designs and distributes print, audiovisual, and social media content that is easy to understand and act on.
  9. Addresses health literacy in high-risk situations, including care transitions and communications about medicines.
  10. Communicates clearly what health plans cover and what individuals will have to pay for services.”

Example of Programs Using the Ten Attributes of Health Literate Health Care Organizations

  • The University of Tennessee Medical Center has developed a health literacy initiative through its partnership with the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine. The institution has created strategic goals harnessing the ten attributes of health literate care organizations to make impactful change in increasing organizational health literacy.