Research additional information on health literacy and its impact on quality of care.

Health literacy has been a long-time problem in health care. Data from a recent community survey completed for your moderate-size city indicate that health literacy problems are increasing and that minority populations have increased in the last five years. Chronic illnesses in these populations have also increased, such as diabetes and hypertension. Clinics and home health agencies have reported an increase in medication errors for patients who are taking medications at home. Many of these errors appear to be due to poor understanding of medication directions and ability to read these directions either in written patient directions or reading medication containers.