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Health Literacy

Electronic Personal Health Records: Lessons From Abroad  / Opinion
March 2006— Don Detmer, President and Chief Executive Officer of American Medical Informatics Association discusses approaches to the evolving technology of personal health records in Australia, Canada, England, and New Zealand.

Identifying Medicare Beneficiaries with Poor Health Literacy Skills: Is a Short Screening Index Feasible?  / Research Report
June 2005— A first step toward the development of a screening tool for use in a clinical setting or Medicare counseling center to identify people who need extra assistance in following instructions, using information, and making choices is explored in this AARP Public Policy Institute Issue Paper by Judith Hibbard, Jessica Greene and Martin Tusler. (22 pages) (Publication ID: 2005-01)

In Brief: Identifying Medicare Beneficiaries with Poor Health Literacy Skills: Is a Short Screening Index Feasible?  / Research Report
June 2005— A short summary of the similarly titled AARP Public Policy Institute Issue Paper by Judith Hibbard, Jessica Greene and Martin Tusler about the development of a screening tool for identifying people in clinical settings or Medicare counseling centers who need extra assistance in following instructions, using information, and making health choices. (2 pages) (Publication ID: INB97)

How Much Do Health Literacy and Patient Activation Contribute to Older Adults' Ability to Manage Their Health?  / Research Report
June 2005— While health literacy positively influences older adults’ Medicare decision making, this AARP Public Policy Institute Issue Paper by Jessica Greene, Judith Hibbard, and Martin Tusler of the University of Oregon finds that patient activation has a greater influence on one's engagement in health-care-related, healthy, and chronic illness self-management behaviors. (24 pages) (Publication ID: 2005-05)

In Brief: How Much Do Health Literacy and Patient Activation Contribute to Older Adults' Ability to Manage Their Health?  / Research Report
May 2005— A succinct summary of the similarly titled AARP Public Policy Institute Issue Paper by Jessica Greene, Judith Hibbard, and Martin Tusler of the University of Oregon that finds that patient activation and health literacy positively influence the skills and behaviors older adults need to effectively manage their health. (2 pages) (Publication ID: INB98)

Adequate Literacy and Health Literacy: Prerequisites for Informed Health Care Decision Making  / Research Report
June 2004— Inadequate health literacy skills can seriously impair a consumers’ ability to deal effectively with the health care system. Strategies to address this prevalent but often unrecognized public policy issue are discussed in this AARP Public Policy Institute Issue Brief by Joyce Dubow. (11 pages) (Publication ID: IB70)