The concept of health literacy evolved from a history of defining, redefining, and quantifying the functional literacy needs of the adult population. Along with these changes has come the recognition that sophisticated literacy skills are increasingly needed to function in society and that low literacy may have an effect on health and health care. We present a brief history of literacy in the United States, followed by a discussion of the origins and conceptualization of health literacy. Increased attention to this important issue suggests the need to review existing definitions of the term "health literacy," because despite the growing interest in this field, one question that persists is, "What is health literacy?"
The article came from an issue of the Journal of Health Communication: Berkman, N. D., Davis, T. C., & McCormack, L. (2010). Health Literacy: What Is It? Journal of Health Communication: International Perspectives, 15(S2), 9-19.
The more I read this article, the more I value its perspective, utility, and the way it gets me thinking about my own health literacy research. I have a couple projects going related to health literacy measurement, and the point this article makes about picking a definition of health literacy that matches the research project, is a really crucial one.
Anyway, it's a great article, and I just wanted to share it with anyone interested in this area who hasn't seen it to this point.