Swain Endowed Lectureship Seminar Series (Living Healthy)

Why Is Health Literacy Important?

"Health literacy is the ability to understand health information and to use that information to make good decisions about your health and medical care." - MedlinePlus

"Given the complexity of the healthcare system, it is not surprising that limited health literacy is associated with poor health." - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Quick Guide to Health Literacy

With so much health information on the Internet it is vital that health consumers know how to find the best available information and how to evaluate sites for reliability and validity.

Finding quality health information on the Internet can be a daunting task. Begin your search with a health information portal. A health information portal is a web site with documents and links that are authoritative and trustworthy, like these: