Why HEAL?
Literacy for Life designed the innovative HEAL Program in 2012 to address the critical issue of low health literacy in the greater Williamsburg community, drawing on its expertise as a premier adult literacy organization with a 40-year track record.
What is Health Literacy?
Health literacy is the ability to understand basic health information and services to make appropriate health care decisions.
Why Does It Matter?
Literacy is a stronger predictor of a person’s health than income, employment status, education level, or race or ethnicity. People with low health literacy are more likely to skip important preventive measures and to enter the health care system when they’re sicker. They’re more likely to have chronic conditions and less likely to manage them effectively. They are significantly more likely to report their health as poor.
And low health literacy doesn’t just affect patients. It strains the health care system itself, resulting in preventable hospital visits and admissions, longer stays, higher readmission rates, and extra tests, procedures, and prescriptions. The estimated health costs of low literacy in the United States are $106 billion to $236 billion annually.
What Does HEAL Do?
The HEAL Program® addresses health literacy through classes for adults seeking to improve their health care knowledge and thorough training for medical professionals. Successful implementation of HEAL Complete can benefit the whole community, resulting in:
- Improved patient health, safety, and satisfaction
- Improved patient engagement
- Fewer hospital admissions and readmissions
- Reduced length of hospital stays
- Decreased use of emergency services
- Significantly reduced health care costs
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