People with limited health literacy have less knowledge of disease management, report poorer health status, and are less likely to seek preventative services. This problem is pervasive - affecting approximately half of the people living in the United States. Poor health literacy costs the nation as much as $58 billion each year.

To address these issues, MFH has developed a Health Literacy funding effort. MFH and health literacy stakeholders are focusing on three goals in this effort:

• improve the health literacy of Missouri's population in order to encourage better health decisions and healthy behaviors;

• promote health literacy education and training for health professionals; and,

• enhance communication between consumers and care providers.

HEALTH LITERACY COORDINATING COUNCIL

The Health Literacy Coordinating Council is chaired by Dr. Arthur Culbert. The Council includes representatives from around the state, as well as MFH staff.

Mission, Vision & Guiding Principles: In order to improve the health of all Missourians, the Council has adopted the following mission, vision and guiding principles.

Mission:

• Providing access to plain language health care information

• Offering educational resources that help providers communicate effectively with patients

• Improving health literacy through education and community collaborations, and

• Strengthening the evidence base for health literacy.

Vision:

• To become a national leader in health literacy

Guiding Principles:

• Engage community partners, innovate strategically and put consumers first.