VHA National Desktop Library

Health literacy is a complex issue that greatly affects patient care, safety, and satisfaction. This subject guide offers resources to help healthcare professionals improve communication, bridge the gap between medical language and patient understanding, and enhance health literacy for Veteran patients.

Organizational Health Literacy

• Health Literacy Improvement Tools | AHRQ
• Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit | AHRQ
• Ten Attributes of Health Literate Health Care Organizations | AHRQ
• Health Literacy Resources | CDC
• Defining, assessing, and implementing organizational health literacy: Barriers, facilitators, and tools – a systematic review | BMC Health Services Research*

Cultural health literacy and cultural competency

• Communicating Effectively with People with Disabilities | ADA
• Health Literacy: Culture and Language | CDC
• Medline Plus Health Information in Other Languages | NLM
• Office of Minority Health | HHS
• One Size Does Not Fit All: Meeting the Health Care Needs of Diverse Populations | The Joint Commission*
• The SHARE Approach - Cultural Competence and Getting to Know Your Patient | AHRQ
• Think Cultural Health | HHS

Digital (ehealth) health literacy

• Digital Healthcare Research | AHRQ
• eHealth Literacy | CDC
• Digital Health Literacy Toolkit | Global Digital Health Partnership*
• Use a computer to do almost anything! | Digitallearn.org*
• Health Literacy Online 3rd Edition | OASH
• Improving Digital Health Literacy | Rural Health Information Hub*

*This link leads to a non-government resource. Use of this is for reference only and does not reflect endorsement.

Strategies for developing health literate patient education materials

• Clear & Simple | NIH
• Develop & Test Materials | CDC
• Clear Writing Assessment | CDC
• Health Literacy Online: A Guide to Writing and Designing Easy-to-Use Health Web Sites | ODPHP
• The Health Literacy Style Manual | Covering Kids & Families*
• The Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT) | AHRQ
• Plain Language: Getting Started or Brushing Up | NIH
• Plain Language Medical Dictionary | University of Michigan*
• Simply Put: A Guide for Creating Easy-to-Read Understand Materials | CDC

Assessing document readability

• The Clear Communication Index Widget | CDC
• Clear Writing Assessment | CDC
• Coleman Liau Index Readability Formula*
• Flesch Kincaid Readability Calculator*
• Get your Document's Readability and Level Statistics | Microsoft*
• Turning on Flesch-Kincaid Formula in Microsoft Word | NCP PCL (must be on VA network to access)
• Health Education Materials Assessment Tool | NIH
• Microsoft 365 Copilot*
• Online Software Utilities | Online-Utility.org*
• PEMAT | AHRQ
• Readability Analyzer | Datayze*
• SMOK Readability Formula, a Simple Measure of Gobbledygook*
• Suitability Assessment of Materials (SAM)*

Assessing patient health literacy

• Health Literacy Toolshed | Boston University Medical Campus*
• Health Literacy Tool Shed | Tufts Medicine*
• Personal Health Literacy Measurement Tools | AHRQ
• REALM-SF Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine, Short Form | AHRQ
• The Newest Vital Sign: A New Health Literacy Assessment Tool for Health Care Providers*

Gathering Veteran feedback and establishing focus groups

• Growing Rural Outreach through Veteran Engagement Center (GROVE)
• Patient Experience (PX) Guidebook (must be on VA network to access)
• Strengthening Excellence in Research through Veteran Engagement (SERVE) Toolkit 2.0
• Working with Patient and Families as Advisors Implementation Handbook | AHRQ
• VSignals

*This link leads to a non-government resource. Use of this is for reference only and does not reflect endorsement.

Increasing patient engagement in their health care

• Be Involved in Your Health Care | NCP
• Ask Me 3 | IHI*
• My Health Choices Tool | NCP
• VA App Store | VHA
• Preparing for a Visit with your Healthcare Provider | VHL
• Be Involved in Your Health Care Video | VHL
• Be More Engaged in Your Healthcare | AHRQ
• Take Charge of Your Health Care | OASH
• Honoring Veteran's Healthcare Preferences | VA National Center for Ethics in Health Care

Safe searching and addressing health misinformation

Lateral reading

• Online Research | Central Michigan University Libraries*
• Evaluating Online Information | University of Iowa*

Evaluating websites

• Evaluating Resources and Misinformation | UChicago Library*
• Evaluating Sources: The CRAAP Test | Benedictine University Library*

Quackwatch

• Your Guide to Quackery, Health Fraud, and Intelligent Decisions | Quackwatch*

Health misinformation

• Health Misinformation | NLM
• Building a Healthy Information Environment: The Surgeon General's Toolkit on Health Misinformation | NLM
• Evaluating Health Information | NLM
• Health Misinformation | HHS

Health biases

• Plaisime, M. V., Jipguep-Akhtar, M. C., & Belcher, H. M. (2023). 'White People are the default': A qualitative analysis of medical trainees' perceptions of cultural competency, medical culture, and racial bias. SSM-Qualitative Research in Health, 4, 100312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmqr.2023.100312*
• Unconscious Bias and Healthcare | Center to Advance Palliative Care*
• Why Address Bias in Health Care | National Center for Cultural Competence*

How to find reliable health information

• How To Find Reliable Health Information Online | NIA
• Online Frauds and Scams (2025) | Digitallearn.org*
• Online Health Information | Digitallearn.org*

Patient education resources

• Medline Plus | NLM
• Patient Centered Learning Resources | NCP
• Veterans Health Library | VA
• Consumer Health Information | VA VALNET
• VA Desktop Library

Understanding health information and conditions

• Clinical Trials and Studies | NIA
• Some Common Medical Abbreviations | NLM
• Health Topics | NIH/NIA
• MedlinePlus Easy to Read | NLM
• Patient Involvement Videos Tips & Tools | AHRQ
• Understanding Medical Words Tutorial | NLM
• Word Parts and What They Mean | NLM

Online patient education videos

• Medline Plus Videos and Tools | NLM
• Patient and Clinician Videos | AHRQ
• Servier Medical Art and Videos (SMART)*
• Talking with your Doctor or Health Care Provider | NIH
• Part 1: Preparing for Your Medical Appointment | NIH
• Part 2: Talking Openly with Your Medical Provider | NIH
• Part 3: Understanding Diagnosis and Treatment | NIH
• VHA YouTube
• Veterans Health Library

Health clip art, graphic images, and other illustrations

• Anatomy TV | Primal Pictures*
• CardioSmart | American College of Cardiology*
• Communication Resources | CDC
• Digital Collections | NLM
• Health Education Assets Library (HEAL) | Spencer S Eccles Health Sciences Library*
• Healthy for Good Infographics | American Heart Association*
• Image Gallery | HHS
• ICON Array | University of Michigan Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine*
• Public Health Image Library | CDC
• Servier Medical Art (SMART)*
• Universal Symbols in Health Care Workbook: Best Practice for Sign Systems*
• USP Pictograms | United States Pharmacopeial Convention*
• VisualDx* and VisualDx VHA Mobile App*

Graphic medicine

• Good Reads | Listopia*
• Graphic Medicine Channel*
• Graphic Medicine | Graphic Medicine International Collective*
• Graphic Medicine | NLM
• McNicol, S. (2017). The potential of educational comics as a health information medium. Health Information & Libraries Journal, 34(1), 20-31. https://doi.org/10.1111/hir.12145*

Graphic medicine novels

• RX: A Graphic Memoir | Grand Central Publishing*
• Building Critical Literacy and Empathy with Graphic Novels | National Council of Teachers of English*
• Psychiatric Tales: Eleven Graphic Stories about Mental Illness | Bloomsbury Publishing*

*This link leads to a non-government resource. Use of this is for reference only and does not reflect endorsement.

Artificial Intelligence in Health Literacy

• AI@VA Community SharePoint
• VA Artificial Intelligence

Interactive and Immersive Virtual Reality Technologies

• VA Immersive | VA Office of Healthcare Innovation and Learning
• VA Immersive Videos
• Mobile Apps | VHA
• Decision Aid Tools | VHL

Books

• Lega, F., & Kreutzer, P. (2023). Building and improving health literacy in the 'new normal' of health care: Frameworks and actions. Emerald Publishing Limited.*
• Osborne, H. (2011). Health Literacy From A to Z: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.*
• Rudd, R. E., Anderson, J. E., Oppenheimer, S., & Nath, C. (2023). Health literacy: an update of medical and public health literature. In Review of Adult Learning and Literacy, Volume 7 (pp. 175-204). Routledge.*

Ebooks

• Haddad, A. M., Doherty, R. F., & Purtilo, R. B. (Eds.). (2023). Health Professional and Patient Interaction-E-Book, Elsevier Health Sciences.*
• Lopez, C., Kim, B., & Sacks, K. (2022). Health literacy in the United States: Enhancing assessments and reducing disparities. SSRN 4182046. https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/114019/*
• Okan, O., Bauer, U., Levin-Zamir, D., Pinheiro, P., & Sørensen, K. (Eds.). (2019). International Handbook of Health Literacy. Bristol, UK: Policy Press. https://doi.org/10.51952/9781447344520*

Journals

• Graphic Medicine Review*
• Health Literacy and Communication Open*
• Health Literacy Research and Practice (HLRP)*
• Journal of Health Communication*
• Patient Education and Counseling (PEC)*

Journal Articles

• Cesar, F. C. R., Oliveira, L. M. D. A. C., Galvão, M. C., & Lacerda, A. L. A. (2024). How Do Healthcare Professionals Develop the Communication Process to Promote Patients' Health Literacy?. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 21(5), 536. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21050536*
• Smith, C., Behan, S., Belton, S., Nicholl, C., Murray, M., & Goss, H. (2025). An update on health literacy dimensions: An umbrella review. Plos one, 20(6), e0321227. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0321227*
• Tucker, C. A. (2024). Promoting personal health literacy through readability, understandability, and actionability of online patient education materials. Journal of the American Heart Association, 13(8), e033916. https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.124.033916*

Websites

• An Introduction to Health Literacy | NIH
• Communicate Clearly | AHRQ
• Center for Plain Language*
• Health Literacy | AHRQ
• Health Literacy | CDC
• Health Literacy | WHO*
• Health Literacy Month*
• Health Literacy Resources | OASH
• Teach-Back: Intervention | AHRQ
• The SHARE Approach | AHRQ

Podcasts

• Graphic Medicine Podcast*
• Health Literacy Out Loud*
• VA Resource Navigator - Desert Pacific Dispatch Episode

Trainings

• AHRQ Health Literacy Professional Education and Training
• CDC Health Literacy Trainings
• Health Literacy for Educators*
• Pri-Med Free Cultural Competency CME/CE Courses*
• VA TMS Health Literacy Trainings: VHEC Professional Development VA (43480)

Webcasts, Workshops & Community of Practice Calls

• Community-Based Health Literacy Interventions | NIH
• Cultural Competence in Nursing | Joyce University*
• Health Literacy Month Webinar Series | Multi-Regional Clinical Trials*
• Patient Centered Learning Health Literacy Community of Practice | NCP PCL

Online Clinician Videos

• 5 Things to Know about Health Literacy | HHS
• How Health Literacy Affects Everything You Do (Health Use, Status, Costs, and Outcomes) | Jennifer W., Education Specialist*
• Culture and Language Affect Health Literacy | CDC
• Effective Health Communication and Health Literacy: Understanding the Connection | NNLM
• How Can Health Literacy Be Improved? | Nursing Knowledge Exchange*

*This link leads to a non-government resource. Use of this is for reference only and does not reflect endorsement.