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What is Health Literacy?

Health literacy is the amount that a person can access and understand basic health information and services needed to make good health decisions.

Health literacy includes the skills of:

  • reading
  • listening
  • making decisions
  • applying these skills to health situations

Good health literacy skills can improve your health. A person's health has a strong link with his/her health literacy level—more than:

  • age
  • income
  • work status
  • education
  • race

Examples