Full course description
Discover the link between social determinants of health and health literacy, understand the business case for promoting health literacy, and apply health literacy principles when developing policies, procedures, and quality and safety initiatives within organizations.
- Lesson 1: You’ll learn what social determinants of health are and how they affect people’s health status. You’ll also learn about strategies to improve health literacy by addressing key social determinants of health.
- Lesson 2: You’ll learn about the rationale for taking a universal precautions approach to health literacy best practices to create an inclusive, accessible, and shame-free environment throughout health organizations and programs. You’ll learn how to implement plain language and teach-back as universal precautions. In addition, you’ll learn about 4 additional health literacy universal precautions and best practices.
- Lesson 3: You’ll learn about 4 concepts that support the business case for health literacy promotion efforts, and why each of those 4 concepts supports the business case for health literacy promotion efforts.
- Lesson 4: You’ll learn how digital tools and technologies support health literacy, and how to assess their appropriateness for specific populations and use cases. In addition, you’ll learn about criteria that organizations can use to evaluate, develop, and select digital tools and technologies with health literacy in mind.
- Lesson 5: You’ll learn about characteristics and examples of high-risk health situations in which it’s critical to ensure understanding. You’ll learn about the rationale for applying health literacy-based strategies to ensure understanding in these situations, and about tools and strategies you can use.
- Lesson 6: You’ll learn how limited health literacy can impact the healthcare system. You’ll also learn about possible solutions for minimizing its impact on the healthcare system.
- Lesson 7: You’ll learn why policies and procedures are key to ensuring a health literate healthcare organization. In addition, you’ll learn about ways that healthcare systems, of any size, can use policies and procedures to embed and sustain research-based health literacy practices into individual and organizational behavior.
- Lesson 8: You’ll learn why leading healthcare accreditation, regulatory, and quality organizations call for incorporating health literacy into quality and safety initiatives. You’ll learn about 3 ways to use health literacy-informed practices to improve quality and safety. Finally, you’ll learn about 3 ways to use quality and safety approaches to improve use of health literacy best practices.
- Lesson 9: You’ll learn what organizational health literacy is. You’ll also learn why it’s important to assess organizational health literacy, and about 3 tools for assessing it.
- Lesson 10: You’ll learn about the role and purpose of accreditation requirements, regulations, and other published standards in health organizations and programs. In addition, you’ll learn about accreditation requirements, regulations, and standards related to health literacy practices and materials, and how health organizations and programs are evaluated for compliance.
Complete all ten lessons and pass the summative exam to earn your Organizational Systems and Policies digital credential.
This course takes approximately 8 hours.