Organizational Change to Improve Health Literacy: Workshop Summary

Organizational Change to Improve Health Literacy is the summary of a workshop convened in April 2013 by the Institute of Medicine Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice Roundtable on Health Literacy. As a follow up to the 2012 discussion paper Ten Attributes of a Health Literate Health Care Organization, participants met to examine what is known about implementation of the attributes of a health literate health care organization and to create a network of health literacy implementers who can share information about health literacy innovations and problem solving. This report discusses implementation approaches and shares tools that could be used in implementing specific literacy strategies.

Although health literacy is commonly defined as an individual trait, there is a growing appreciation that health literacy does not depend on the skills of individuals alone. Health literacy is the product of the interaction between individuals’ capacities and the health literacy-related demands and complexities of the health care system. System changes are needed to better align health care demands with the public’s skills and abilities. Organizational Change to Improve Health Literacy focuses on changes that could be made to achieve this goal.