Building a Health Literate Workplace

Abstract

Approximately 36% of America's adult population cannot perform daily activities that require basic reading, writing, and numeric skills. Individuals who are at risk for low health literacy have demographics and socioeconomic backgrounds similar to those of individuals considered vulnerable by the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA). Improving health literacy is a public health priority. Occupational health nurses can play a major role in assisting employers to build a health literate organization while improving the health of their employees. This article discusses attributes of a health literate organization, including organizational commitment, infrastructure, policies and practices with a health literacy priority, and effective communication at all levels.