Infographic: Health Literacy

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Patients With Low Health Literacy…

• Are more likely to visit an emergency room¹
• Have more hospital stays²
• Are less likely to follow treatment plans³
• Have higher mortality rates⁴

¹ Griffey, R. T., Kennedy, S. K., D’Agostino McGowan, L., Goodman, M., & Kaphingst, K. A. (2014). Is low health literacy associated with increased emergency department utilization and recidivism? Acad Emerg Med, 21(10), 1109-1115

² Baker, D. W., Parker, R. M., Williams, M. V., & Clark, W. S. (1998). Health Literacy and the Risk of Hospital Admission. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 13(12), 791–798.

³ Williams, M.V., Baker, D. W., Parker, R. M., & Nurss, J. R. (1998). Relationship of functional health literacy to patient’s knowledge of their chronic disease: A study of patients with hypertension and diabetes. Arch Intern Med, 158, 166-172.

⁴ Baker, D. W., Wolf, M. S., Feinglass, J., Thompson, J. A., Gazmararian, J. A., & Huang, J. (2007). Health literacy and mortality among elderly persons. Arch Intern Med, 167(14), 1503-1509.