Promoting Health Literacy in the Inpatient Setting: Assessment and Interventions

Limited health literacy (LHL) is typically identified in the outpatient setting, at a physician’s office or clinic, and addressed through interventions designed to promote patient understanding of self-care and preventative measures. When a patient with limited health literacy is hospitalized, information needs shift to inpatient, discharge, and posthospitalization care. Hospitalized patients present unique challenges which may affect their abilities to ask questions and retain information. Hospital personnel may also face the challenges of identifying limited health literacy in inpatients and providing appropriate education, in addition to patient care. Implementing hospital-wide health literacy screening is a feasible solution to identifying LHL patients and providing interventions.