At the Minnesota Health Literacy Partnership, we value sharing resources and educating others about the importance of health literacy.  Over the last year we have focused our energy on doing just that.  Take a look at some of the current initiatives available through MHLP.

Plain Language Campaign - NEW!!!

Plain language is one of the strategies supporting the Minnesota Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy priority of adopting and using health literacy best practices across all verbal, written and visual communication.  Plain language is all about using simple, easy-to-understand words.  It is communication that your audience can understand the first time they hear or read it.

The Minnesota Health Literacy Partnership’s Plain Language Campaign is intended to serve as a tool for a wide range of health organizations to increase the use of plain language and improve health literacy in Minnesota. Materials are available under the Resources tab.

MN Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy

There’s no way around it – health care is complicated. So much so that people need help to understand what their health information actually means. That’s why 43 organizations came together to work to improve health literacy in Minnesota. To begin to tackle the problem, we’re collectively committing to these six priorities.. Learn more.

Health Numeracy Toolkit

The messages we convey to patients are only as good as their interpretation, so it’s up to us to remove the guesswork. Health numeracy deals with quantitative information -- numbers instead of or in addition to words. Just like health literacy, health numeracy can significantly impact a patient’s decision-making, outcomes, and overall health. Toolkit materials go in-depth about the numeracy aspect of health literacy and go over some strategies you can employ to bolster your messages about dosages, treatment decisions, risk-benefit communication, and much more.

Toolkit materials are now available on our website. Materials include:

• a PowerPoint presentation with speaker notes
• an outline, presentation options and references

Materials are located under the Resources tab. We hope you find these materials helpful as you introduce and encourage simplifying language when using numbers in health care in your settings. 

Teach-Back Program

MHLP is excited to announce the launch of our Minnesota Teach-Back Program. Program materials are now available and include:

• a video which shows an example of doing an effective teach-back
• a PowerPoint presentation with speaker notes
• a program guide which includes additional activities and ideas for building a successful program

Materials are located under the Resources tab. We hope you find these materials helpful as you introduce and encoruage using the teach-back method in your settings.

HeLP MN Seniors

The Health Literacy Program for Minnesota Seniors (HeLP MN Seniors) is centered around a two-part workshop series related to 1) communicating with your health care provider, and 2) finding reliable and accurate health information on the Internet.  All materials you need to develop your own program are available. Learn more.

Health Literacy 101

This program is designed to help educate health professionals about health literacy and includes everything you need: presentation, activities, pre- and post-tests and Learn more.

Take Charge of Your Health Care

Take Charge of Your Health Care is a class for consumers. After this program, participants will feel more empowered to ask questions of health care providers and more confident in finding health information on the Internet. Contact MHLP to learn more about this program or if you are interested in having MHLP provide this program at our organization.  Contact us.