Since 1980, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Healthy People initiative has set measurable objectives to improve the health and well-being of people across the country.

 

This year, the initiative launched Healthy People 2030. It lays out datadriven national objectives needed to improve peoples’ health over the next decade. We’re excited to see that health literacy is a central focus of these new goals!

 

Healthy People 2030 shares two new definitions. These definitions acknowledge that organizations have a responsibility to address health literacy.

New measures Healthy People 2030 says that health information and messages are often overly complex. The initiative lays out several objectives to improve health communication, including the following. 

 

Increase the proportion of adults whose health care provider checked their understanding. Health care providers can help people understand health information by asking them to describe how they’ll follow the instructions in their own words. This is the first step of the teach-back method. Learn more about the method here.

 

Decrease the proportion of adults who report poor communication with their health care provider. Good communication between health care providers and patients is part of highquality care, but many people have trouble talking with their health care providers. That is why it’s important to use plain language that people understand the first time they hear or read it. Learn more and access our plain language resources here. 

 

Increase the proportion of adults whose health care providers involved them in decisions as much as they wanted. Evidence shows that most people want to participate in making decisions about their health. Shared decision-making — when people and their health care providers work together to make decisions — can lead to higher patient satisfaction and better health outcomes. Learn more about shared decision-making best practices here.