Are you a community-based organization looking to integrate or improve your health literacy and better serve your community?
Welcome to the Organizational Health Literacy Model. Designed specifically for non-health organizations, this model offers practical strategies to enhance your organization's capacity to address health needs. Co-created by a diverse group of community partners, this model is based on a 3-year project funded by the Office of Minority Health.
Organizational health literacy is the degree to which organizations equitably enable individuals to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others.
Discover best practices and innovative ideas to:
- Strengthen your organization's health knowledge and skills
- Improve your ability to collaborate with health partners
- Create a healthier environment for your staff and community
Explore this page to learn more about how you can integrate health literacy into your workflow and make a positive impact in your community!
Overall Guiding Principles
-
Community Engagement: Actively learn from, engage, and involve community members in the design, implementation, and evaluation of all initiatives.
-
Data Collection and Evaluation: Utilize trusted data sources. Collect data to track progress, measure impact, and identify areas for improvement.
-
Partnerships: Collaborate with other organizations (healthcare providers, social service agencies, etc.) to maximize resources and expand reach.
-
Sustainability: Develop strategies to ensure the long-term sustainability of initiatives.
Know and Be Informed by Your Community:
To effectively serve and support your community, it's essential to engage in ongoing learning and collaboration. Here are some tips:
Learn with your community:
• Actively engage with and learn from your community.
• Be humble, curious, and adapt your approach to you community’s unique needs and perspectives.
• Co-create solutions with community members to ensure they are relevant, effective, and sustainable.
Language Matters:
• Ensure clear and effective communication in all interactions.
• Employ staff or utilize interpretation/translation services to communicate fluently in the community's language(s).
Data-Driven Decisions:
• Use relevant and reliable data to understand your community's needs and inform your strategies.
• Check information for relevance and cultural sensitivity before sharing it.
• Leverage existing community relationships to expand information reach and combat misinformation.
• Rely on current data from trusted sources. Data sources from government (.gov), academic (.edu), and non-profit repositories (.org) are often considered the most reliable.
Clear Communication:
• Use plain, jargon-free language that's easy for everyone to understand.
• Cross check language with your communities and adjust based on their input, as needed
Engagement:
• Prioritize in-person engagement whenever possible to build stronger connections.
• If virtual engagement is necessary, incorporate digital literacy training into your programs.
Additional Considerations:
For meaningful impact, it's important to integrate cultural competence, accessibility, and strong partnerships into your work.
• Cultural Competence: Cultivate cultural humility and sensitivity within your team through ongoing training and education.
• Community Partnerships: Build and nurture partnerships with local organizations and leaders to enhance community trust and collaboration.
• Accessibility: Ensure that all programs, services, and information are accessible to people with disabilities.
• Feedback Loop: Establish a mechanism for gathering regular feedback from the community to continuously improve your efforts.
Example: Applying the Refined Best Practices
Let's say you're developing a health literacy program for a community with a large immigrant population.
• You would conduct focus groups and interviews to understand their specific health concerns and cultural beliefs (Know Your Community).
• You would ensure all program materials and communications are available in the multiple languages represented in your community (Language Matters).
• You would collect data on health outcomes and program participation to evaluate its effectiveness (Data-Driven Decisions).
• You would partner with additional trusted community organizations to promote the program and build trust (Community Partnerships).
Expand Capacity by Cultivating Strategic Partnerships
To expand your organization's capacity in health literacy, focus on strategic staffing, cross-program integration, and building partnerships. These tips will guide you in fostering collaboration, enhancing impact, and ensuring a holistic approach.
Capacity and Integration:
• Dedicated Staffing: Allocate at least 1.5 FTE (Full-Time Equivalent) staff specifically to health literacy initiatives. This ensures focused attention and expertise.
• Cross-Program Integration: Embed health and health literacy components into all programs and services across your organization. This creates a consistent approach and maximizes impact. • Organizational Alignment: Align health literacy staff with other program staff within the organizational chart. This fosters collaboration, communication, and integration.
Partnerships and Collaboration:
• External Partnerships: Build, develop, and leverage partnerships with health-related organizations in the community. Invite guest speakers and subject matter experts to share knowledge and expertise. Share your knowledge and expertise with partners, as well.
• Internal and External Training: Offer training and information-sharing opportunities both internally (for staff) and externally (for community partners and clients).
Holistic Assessment:
• Screen for Medical Needs: Include screening for medical needs as part of the assessment of social needs. This helps identify potential health barriers and ensures appropriate referrals and support.
o See: linkudmv.org
• Utilize existing comprehensive resources for referrals: Link U and Unite Us are 2 web-based resource and referral platforms you can utilize at your organization. Link U has a Social Needs Assessment available to immediately integrate into your workflow.
Additional Considerations:
• Community Engagement: Involve community members in identifying health priorities and developing solutions.
• Data Sharing and Collaboration: Establish agreements with partners for sharing data and collaborating on research and evaluation efforts.
• Sustainability: Develop strategies to ensure the long-term sustainability of partnerships and initiatives.
Example: Applying the Refined Best Practices
A social service organization wants to enhance its health literacy efforts. They could:
• Hire a Health Literacy Coordinator: This person would oversee the development and implementation of health literacy initiatives across the organization.
• Integrate health literacy into existing programs: For example, add a health literacy component to financial literacy workshops or job training programs.
• Partner with a local health clinic: The clinic could provide guest speakers for workshops, conduct health screenings at the organization's facility, and offer referrals for clients with medical needs.
• Focus on establishing a sustainable partnership with the clinic through regular communication, shared goals, and mutual benefits.
Integrate Initiatives Addressing the Social and Structural Determinants of Health
To promote health equity, integrate health literacy into programs addressing social determinants of health. Incorporate these efforts into strategic planning, ensuring health-related goals are reflected in program designs and funding proposals. Here are some tips:
Holistic Approach:
• Integrate health/health literacy into existing programs addressing social determinants of health. For example, incorporate health education modules into job training programs or financial literacy workshops.
• Make this integration a formal part of strategic planning. Include health and health literacy goals and objectives in program designs, grant proposals, and organizational strategies.
Program Development and Outreach
• Develop outreach materials and workshops that address both health literacy and social determinants of health. Ensure content is culturally relevant and accessible to your community and diverse populations.
• Incorporate health/health literacy as part of social determinants of health components into future funding proposals. This demonstrates a commitment to addressing root causes of health inequities. For example, you may find a funding opportunity for violence prevention. Include health and the intersection of violence and health in your proposal.
Alignment and Sustainability:
• Leverage existing successful programs and strategies to incorporate health literacy. Use familiar approaches to introduce new health-related content.
• Develop clear, reusable materials and implementation guides. This ensures program consistency and longevity, even with staff turnover.
• Document processes and outcomes. This allows for continuous improvement and facilitates replication of successful models.
Leadership and Capacity Building:
• Create leadership opportunities focused on health literacy and social determinants of health. Empower staff and community members to champion these initiatives.
• Provide ongoing training and professional development. Equip staff with the knowledge and skills to effectively address these complex issues.
Example:
A community organization is addressing food insecurity through a community garden program. To integrate health literacy and address social determinants of health, they could:
• Offer nutrition education workshops at the garden. This empowers participants to make healthier food choices.
• Partner with a local health clinic to provide health screenings and referrals. This addresses potential barriers to healthcare access.
• Advocate for policies that support access to healthy food. This tackles systemic issues contributing to food insecurity.
Understand your Organization
Conduct a thorough internal assessment to identify your organization’s strengths, gaps, and opportunities for growth in health literacy. Leverage existing relationships with community partners and customize health literacy strategies to fit your unique organizational needs and context. Here are some tips:
Self-Assessment and Growth:
• Organizational Strengths and Gaps: Conduct internal assessment to identify your organization's strengths, weaknesses, and areas for growth related to health literacy. This includes evaluating existing programs, staff knowledge and skills, and organizational infrastructure.
• Leverage Existing Relationships: Identify and leverage existing relationships with partners and community organizations to complement and expand your capacity for health literacy initiatives.
Health Literacy Assessment and Tailored Implementation:
• Internal Health Literacy Assessment: Conduct an internal health literacy assessment to understand your organization's current capacity and infrastructure at both the staff and organizational levels.
• Tailored Implementation: Adapt and customize this health literacy toolkit to fit your organization's specific needs and community context. Consider your unique role as a bridge between community needs and health resources when tailoring implementation strategies.
Additional Considerations
• Leadership Buy-in: Secure leadership support and commitment to ensure resources and organizational prioritization for health literacy efforts.
• Staff Training and Development: Provide ongoing training and professional development opportunities for staff to build health literacy knowledge and skills.
• Evaluation and Continuous Improvement: Establish mechanisms to evaluate the effectiveness of health literacy initiatives and make data-driven improvements.
• Community Engagement: Involve community members in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of health literacy efforts.
Example: Applying the Refined Best Practices
A community-based organization serving a diverse population wants to improve its health literacy efforts. They might:
• Conduct a needs assessment: Gather information from staff, clients, and community partners to identify strengths, gaps, and opportunities related to health literacy.
• Partner with a local health literacy expert: Collaborate to customize this health literacy toolkit.
• Adapt health materials and communication strategies: Ensure all materials and communication approaches are culturally appropriate, easy to understand, and accessible to all community members.
Engage as Trusted Messengers:
To engage as trusted messengers, focus on building meaningful, community-centered relationships, leveraging collaborative partnerships, and ensuring clear, effective communication. Use reliable, evidence-based information to foster trust and empower communities with accurate and accessible knowledge.
Community-Centered Engagement:
• Residents as Teachers: Actively listen to and learn from community members. Recognize their valuable insights and lived experiences as essential knowledge.
• Inclusion and Input: Involve residents in decision-making and program development processes. Leverage their trust and credibility as effective messengers within their communities.
Collaborative Partnerships:
• Maximize External Partnerships: Build and nurture relationships with diverse partners, leveraging each other's strengths to achieve common goals.
• Expand your reach: Host partnered educational or outreach events to expand the communities and needs you can reach and respond to at your organization.
Effective Communication:
• Clarity and Simplicity: Use clear, plain language that is easy to understand. Avoid jargon and technical terms that may be confusing.
• Teach-Back Method: Use the teach-back method to confirm understanding. Ask individuals to explain in their own words what they have learned.
Evidence-Based Information:
• Reliable Data Sources: Prioritize data from reputable academic or government sources.
• Accurate Presentation: Present data carefully and accurately, providing context and avoiding misleading interpretations.
• Critical Evaluation: Use tools like the "Evaluating Internet Health Information Guide" to critically assess health information found online.
• Ethical Data Visualization: Follow guidelines like the "Do No Harm Data Visualization and Language Guide" to ensure data visualization is clear, accurate, and does not perpetuate harmful stereotypes or biases. Do No Harm Guidelines: Ethical Data Visualization
• Transparency: Be transparent about data sources, methodologies, and any potential limitations or uncertainties.
Additional Considerations:
• Cultural Competence: Ensure all communication and engagement efforts are culturally sensitive and respectful. Speak the language of the community.
• Accessibility: Make information and resources accessible to individuals with diverse needs and abilities.
Example: Applying the Refined Best Practices
A community health organization wants to address vaccine hesitancy in a particular neighborhood. They could:
• Host community conversations: Create safe spaces for residents to share their concerns and questions about vaccines.
• Train community health workers: Empower trusted community members to share accurate vaccine information with their peers.
• Use clear and culturally relevant materials: Develop educational materials that are easy to understand and resonate with the community's values and beliefs.
• Partner with local faith leaders: Collaborate with trusted faith leaders to address vaccine concerns and promote vaccination within their congregations.