LibGuides: Health Information Literacy: Patient Care

Tools for Patients

Ask Me 3
The 3 most important questions a patient should ask their doctor, nurse or pharmacist.
Build Your Question List
Helps patients create a list of questions to ask their doctor or pharmacist.
MedlinePlus Health Literacy
Links to information about health literacy, including clinical trials, journal articles and glossaries.
MedSpeak in Plain Language
Makes it easier for patients to understand the "medspeak" that their doctor or nurse uses.
MedSpeak in Plain Language (Spanish)
Makes it easier for patients to understand the "medspeak" that their doctor or nurse uses. Published by the Medical Library Association.
Rx Riddles Solved!
Doctors, pharmacists, and others use a medical "shorthand". This resource will help patients figure out what that shorthand means.
“Say AH!”
Resources for talking to your doctor and background information on Health Literacy
Understanding Medical Words
A Tutorial from the National Library of Medicine: Teaches patients about medical words. Patients will learn how to put together parts of medical words and quizzes will test them on what they've learned.

Commonly Used Clinical Phrases
Provides written translations and audio for commonly used clinical phrases. Includes Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, French, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese.
EthnoMed
Contains patient education materials on various topics. Languages included are: Amharic, Chinese, Hmong, Karen, Khmer, Oromo, Somali, Spanish, Tigrinya and Vietnamese.
Health Information in Multiple Languages
MEDLINEPlus - Provides links to health information in dozens of languages.
MedSpeak in Plain Language (Spanish)
Makes it easier for patients to understand the "medspeak" that their doctor or nurse uses. Published by the Medical Library Association.
Refugee Health Information Network
A collaborative partnership managed by refugee health professionals whose objective is to provide quality multilingual, health information resources for those providing care to resettled refugees and asylees.
SPIRAL
Connects people to authoritative health information in Asian languages that is freely available on the Web.

"The safety of patients cannot be assured without mitigating the negative effects of low health literacy and ineffective communication..."

Patient-Centered Communication Standards for Hospitals
R3 Report from the Joint Commission's Roadmap for Hospitals
Patient Safety Tools
Goal 2 is to Improve Communication Among Caregivers.
What Did the Doctor Say? Improving Health Literacy to Protect Patient Safety
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In this white paper, the Joint Commission makes three recommendations: 1. Make effective communications an organizational priority to protect the safety of patients; 2. Address patients’ communication needs across the continuum of care; 3. Pursue policy changes that promote improved practitioner-patient communication.