title: Health literacy: understanding basic health information.
abstract: Health literacy is a significant concern for Americans. Understanding health information is vital in addressing issues of access, quality, and affordability. If nurses are not able to teach patients effectively about their conditions and treatments, outcomes will be adversely affected. Providing information in ways that are appropriate for the patient's health literacy level is a step toward decreasing health disparities and increasing patient compliance. Online information can be useful to both nurses and patients.
authors.affiliation: Office of the Air Force Surgeon General, Arlington, Virginia, USA. rls1975@comcast.net
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Squellati
mesh_terms: D057220:Health Literacy; D006801:Humans; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D014481:United States