April 2004

The National Academies

Institute of Medicine advisory: April 8 news conference on health literacy

Nearly half of all American adults have difficulty understanding and acting upon the health information they encounter at the doctor's office, in the media, and elsewhere. Patients with limited health literacy are less likely to use preventive care and more likely to use costly emergency room care. A new report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, HEALTH LITERACY: A PRESCRIPTION TO END CONFUSION, examines problems associated with lack of health literacy, and recommends solutions. The IOM report, as well as LITERACY AND HEALTH OUTCOMES, published by Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, will be released at a joint news conference held by IOM, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the American Medical Association.

DETAILS: 1:30 p.m., Thursday, April 8, in the Murrow Room of the National Press Club, 529 14th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. Reporters who cannot attend may participate in the news conference by telephone by calling 1-888-323-2711 and using "health literacy" as the password.

A public briefing focused on the IOM report will follow the news conference at 3 p.m. in the same location. Those who cannot attend the briefing may listen to a live audio webcast and submit questions using an e-mail form at http://national-academies.org. (The webcast requires RealPlayer, available free at http://www.real.com/player. For more information on setup and hardware requirements, see the Real.com Web site.)

Advance copies of the IOM report will be available to reporters only beginning at 1:30 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, April 7. THE REPORT IS EMBARGOED AND NOT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE BEFORE 1:30 P.M. EDT ON APRIL 8. To obtain a copy of the report or register to attend the news conference or briefing, contact the National Academies' Office of News and Public Information; tel. 202-334-2138 or e-mail [email protected].






This article comes from Science Blog. Copyright � 2004
http://www.scienceblog.com/community