Health Literacy

Tools

Flesch Reading Ease test - rates text on a 100-point scale. The higher the score, the easier it is to understand the document. For most standard files, you want the score to be between 60 and 70.

Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level test - rates text on a U.S. school grade level.

Both of these tests can be measured in Microsoft Word documents in the Review tab.
Run the Spelling and Grammar check.
Once this is completed the Readability Statistics popup box appears.

Health Literacy Measurement Tools - from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Qualtiy - Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine—Short Form (REALM-SF) and Short Assessment of Health Literacy for Spanish Adults (SAHLSA-50)

SMOG (Simple Measure of Gobbledygook) is a test of the readability of written instructions given to patients. This tool is used to judge the grade level (for comprehension) of these written documents.
http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/som-hlc/SMOGTest.doc

The following links are to information presented by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion – U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:

Sample action plan to improve health literacy
http://www.health.gov/communication/literacy/sampleplan.htm

Quick Guide to Health Literacy
http://www.health.gov/communication/literacy/quickguide/Quickguide.pdf

Quick Guide to Health Literacy and Older Adults
http://www.health.gov/communication/literacy/olderadults/default.htm

Teaching Older Adults How to Find Health Information on the Internet – Toolkit for Trainers
http://nihseniorhealth.gov/toolkit/toolkit.html

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Health Literacy