With almost 9 out of 10 American adults having significant difficulty understanding health information, we have a major problem that is not well recognized threatening the health and safety of most of our population. Our conference will address this issue by drawing national speakers and a very diverse regional and national audience to learn about health literacy research findings, evidence-based information and tools they can use to improve the public's understanding of health information. Using the methods of three previous successful conferences, we will target invitations to physicians and literacy educators, invite national, regional and local speakers to summarize and communicate policy recommendations, research findings, evidence-based information, tools, and adult education interventions. Our audience will include people within organizations that have the capability to use the information to improve the outcomes, quality, access to, cost and utilization of health care services especially for low income and minority groups, women, children, the elderly and those living in rural areas. The conference will contribute to six of the seven Department of Health and Human Services National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy goals by achieving the following aims: 1) Attract a national and regional audience of primary care physicians engaged in practice-based research that will be able to integrate health literacy research findings and tools into their medical practices;2) Attract a national and regional audience of leaders in community-based adult literacy education that will be able to integrate health literacy practices and interventions into their adult education programs;3) Conduct a pre-conference meeting of representatives from at least 25 state health literacy coalitions or initiatives to share experience and provide technical assistance for building statewide health literacy coalitions. 4) Discuss policy implications of health literacy as it relates to healthcare reform at state and national levels. 5) Disseminate health literacy practices and interventions that can be used by the audience to address the National Action Plan goals in their personal work and within their organization. This conference is unique as it will bring together speakers with the latest research findings, and evidence-based information, but also an audience of clinicians, health care workers and educators that can use the information themselves and in the their organizations to improve outcomes for priority populations.
The 2011 Wisconsin Health Literacy Summit will bring together health literacy experts and people working to improve health literacy who will share what they have learned, so others may use the information to help the people they serve. We will talk about health literacy policies, research findings, and education methods with a national audience of literacy educators, librarians, legislators, health document developers, physicians, health educators and other healthcare workers who will be able use the information to help people better understand health information.
