Provider perceptions of health literacy in an urban community

Objective: To gain an understanding of health and social service providers' perceptions of the scope and nature of health literacy problems in an urban setting. Design: Qualitative study. Setting: Representatives of 13 local health care organizations, churches, and community-based organizations participated. Method: Representatives were placed in two focus group sessions and responded to questions regarding their assessment of the nature and scope of health literacy problems in the community and the multidimensional strategies required to improve health literacy among underserved populations. Results: Participants reported that approximately 30 to 80 percent of their clients/patients had low health literacy skills. They also reported that individuals with low literacy skills are often reluctant to self-disclose their inability to read or understand health information, have problems understanding food labels and medication dosage instructions, and do not know how to advocate for themselves. The participants highlighted the need for physicians, nurses, social workers, health care administrators and other health professions to adopt a multi-dimensional approach to address the needs of individuals with low literacy skills and to empower them to use available community resources such as language interpretation services.