The following are the guiding principles of how DC Health and their community partners approach health literacy work:
- Everyone has the right to health information that helps them make informed decisions.
- We strive to address needs of individuals as they relate to health insurance benefits literacy, healthcare systems literacy, and health behaviors literacy.
- Health services should be delivered in ways that are understandable, culturally informed, relevant, and beneficial to health, longevity, and quality of life.
- Cross-sector partnership, collaboration, and resource sharing is a priority.
- Accountability is a priority. DC Health will track district wide health literacy trends, provide a platform for self-reporting of partner contributions to move forward the agenda, and provide high quality resources for partners. Partners will agree to prioritize tracking their own metrics as they relate to health literacy.