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On May 25, 2010, the Office of Community Engagement held its 2nd annual community forum entitled Improving Health Literacy in Los Angeles: A Multi-disciplinary, Multi-sector Challenge. The forum was held at the beautiful USC Galen Center and well-attended by a passionate, engaged and diverse group of community, clinical, academic and policy leaders from Southern California and the Western states.
Health literacy, defined as a person’s ability to obtain, process, and understand basic health information, has increasingly been recognized as key to one’s ability to access and appropriately utilize medical and health care services. This forum addressed broad themes related to health literacy in Los Angeles, a megacity characterized by extraordinary geographic reach and cultural, linguistic and socioeconomic diversity.
Panels, presentations and guided discussions focused on barriers to health literacy and how health literacy relates to the broader issues of health equity. Panelists representing research, clinical and advocacy perspectives offered innovative strategies designed to address health literacy at the community level and in the context of clinical care
Coverage of the event was provided by the USC Annenberg School for Communications’ Reporting on Health Blog, and can be found at Reporting on Health Blogs. A summary report of the day’s proceedings is currently in preparation and will be made available shortly.
It was clear from the day’s discussion that there is still much work to be done in regard to physician and patient education, advocating for policy change, and developing effective programs to improve health literacy in Los Angeles. The Office of Community Engagement will be working with the attendees of the forum on an action plan and will sponsor future convenings to take the discussions of the day to the next level and take advantage of the momentum created by this important event.
The slides from the three panels are available below, as well as a packet of the event materials. In addition, there is an expanded version of Dr. Dennis Holmes’ presentation.
