PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Mark V. Williams
TI  - Recognizing and overcoming inadequate health literacy, a barrier to care
DP  - 2002 May 01
TA  - Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine
PG  - 415--418
VI  - 69
IP  - 5
4099  - http://www.ccjm.org/content/69/5/415.short
4100  - http://www.ccjm.org/content/69/5/415.full
SO  - Cleve Clin J Med2002 May 01; 69
AB  - Health literacy—the ability to understand and act on health information—is essential for high-quality care. Many people, especially the elderly, who bear the greatest burden of disease, have inadequate health literacy. This adversely affects their quality of care, and places increased cost burdens on society. Learning to recognize when a patient may have low literacy skills and understanding the common ways in which these people misinterpret medical information can help physicians develop strategies to improve patients’ health literacy.