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The Daily Insight

What assessment tools are available to determine a level of health literacy?

Author

Andrew Mclaughlin

Updated on February 28, 2026

Measures. Health literacy was assessed with 2 tools: the NVS and a single-item screening question. The NVS is a quick and valid functional health literacy assessment.

How do you assess patient health literacy?

Four Steps to Assess Health Literacy and Improve Patient Understanding

  1. Communicate clearly. The first step in health literacy involves clear communication, which can move beyond traditional methods of talking and writing.
  2. Confirm understanding.
  3. Be creative.
  4. Clarify and question.

What is the brief health literacy screening tool?

The STOFHLA is a short- ened version of the Test of Functional Health Literacy,10,11 and it measures pa- tients’ ability to read and understand two passages. It includes 36 items, has a score range of 0 to 36, takes up to seven minutes to administer, and takes about two additional minutes to score.

How do you measure literacy skills?

Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) – Using CBM, which directly and repeatedly assesses targeted skills or content, you can identify your students’ abilities in reading fluency, comprehension, and reading words per minute (RWM).

What tools can nurses use to address health literacy?

Nurses, nurse managers, and general health care providers can use the following strategies for improving health literacy among patient populations:

  • Creating a welcoming environment.
  • Making use of printed information.
  • Using basic language.
  • Speaking at a measured pace.
  • Asking questions.
  • Encouraging questions.

How do you teach health literacy?

Strategies Recommended for Clear Communication

  1. Assess patients’ baseline understanding before providing extensive information.
  2. Explain things clearly using plain language.
  3. Emphasize 1 to 3 key points.
  4. Effectively encourage patients to ask questions.
  5. Use a teach-back to confirm patient understanding.

What is your understanding about health literacy?

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) defines health literacy as “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information needed to make appropriate health decisions.”1, 2Adequate health literacy may include being able to read and comprehend …

Why do we assess health literacy?

Assessing Health Literacy Knowing whether your patient has low health literacy skills is very important. This knowledge enables you to match your verbal instructions and the readability level of materials to the health literacy skills of your patient.

Which health literacy measure is the best?

More than half (62.9%) of measurement properties were unknown, due to either poor methodological quality of included studies or a lack of reporting or assessment. The 8-item Health Literacy Assessment Tool (HLAT-8) showed best evidence on construct validity, and the Health Literacy Measure for Adolescents showed best evidence on reliability.

What is the scope of the diabetes literacy problem?

The scope of the problem is described by the National Center for Education Statistics. 5 Overall, it estimates that only 12% of adults have proficient levels of health literacy, defined as the skills needed to perform more complex and challenging literacy activities. The CDC identifies 18.8 million people in the United States as having diabetes.

Does health literacy matter in diabetes self-management?

Many patients with low literacy skills can learn complex self-management protocols, provided they receive clear instructions. This article provides a literature review about health literacy related to diabetes self-management and gives nurses evidence-based tools they can use to help patients overcome health literacy or numeracy issues.

Is there a systematic review of child and adolescent health literacy measures?

Currently, there are three systematic reviews describing and analysing the methodology and measurement of childhood and adolescent health literacy. 10 11 13 In 2013, Ormshaw et al 10 conducted a systematic review of child and adolescent health literacy measures.