Continuing Education: Health Literacy: Assessing and Addressing with Clients

Low health literacy is associated with the risk of poor health outcomes. People most at risk experience multiple health disparities, including access to care, effective communication with healthcare providers, and decreased treatment adherence. Health literacy in palliative and end-of-life care is particularly critical and challenging. Participants will become familiar with the impact of health literacy on health outcomes and learn evidence-based strategies to improve communication and understanding of illness and treatment options through evidence-based and shared decision-making techniques. The goals of this class are to inform social workers about the standards, evidence-based practices, and ethical issues related to the health literacy needs of the patients/clients and families we serve and for critical care and end-of-life decision-making.

Completion of this class will result in the receipt of three continuing education hours.