The Center for Literacy
Health Literacy
Health literacy is the use of a wide range of skills that improve the ability of people to act on information in order to live healthier lives. These skills include reading, writing, listening, speaking, numeracy, and critical analysis, as well as other communication and interaction skills. Health literacy allows the public and personnel working in all health-related contexts to find, understand, evaluate, communicate, and use information.
The Centre for Literacy has been a pioneer and leader in health literacy research and action since 1995.
- The Centre Partners with McGill Research Team on Online Consumer Health Information Use Study (2013 - )
- Lire/Imagine/Read, a project to promote integrating literacy guidance into pediatric practice, with the Montreal Childre's Hospital
- Created the online course "Health Literacy, You talk to your patients, but do they understand? The importance of Health Literacy to your Practice" for Canadian doctors
- Organized learning institutes on health literacy including the 2008 Calgary Institute on Health Literacy Curriculum
- Co-authored the Calgary Charter on Principles for Health Literacy Curriculum (2010)
- Designed action research projects with the McGill University health centre (MUHC) on patients with literacy challenges and contributed to the MUHC Guidelines on Patient Education
- Wrote and helped evaluate patient navigation kits on breast and prostate cancer
- Search Publications using "Health and Literacy" to find additional health literacy publications
- See Canadian Council on Learning report on health literacy in Canada
- Our web portal links to the best that is known in health literacy practice, policy and research
- We can help you identify health literacy challenges in your institution and design and evaluate appropriate intervention
