Cultural Competence Mini-Series: Principles of Health Literacy

Cultural competence is essential to achieving the UCM mission of patient-centered care. The Cultural Competence Course supports the People objective of the UCM Annual Operating Plan “to build a culturally and linguistically competent organization.” Additionally, participants will enhance their skills and knowledge to work more effectively in a multicultural setting. This activity is open to employees of the University of Chicago Medicine and Biological Sciences Division. All course graduates become Cultural Competence Advocates who serve as resources in meetings and their departments. Advocates also have an opportunity to become Cultural Competence Trainers. Cultural Competence Trainers partner with Diversity, Inclusion, & Equity to deliver training in their departments. This session is part of a series sponsored by the Urban Health Initiative Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity. Learn more here! This session will define health literacy and describe the impact of low health literacy on patient safety and quality of care. Participants will learn and practice a health literacy assessment tool for patient care and research.

After this activity, participants will be able to:

• Define health literacy;
• Describe the impact of low health literacy on patient safety and quality of care;
• Identify a health literacy assessment tool to use for patient care and research.