Consumer Health & Health Literacy
Health sciences librarians may be asked to work on support research or initiatives related to patient education, and some health sciences libraries serve the public in additional to health professionals and students. This page contains a few go-to resources related to consumer health and health literacy.
Consumer-Friendly Websites
Consumer-oriented website from the National Library of Medicine with information and suggested resources on a wide variety of health conditions, drugs, and lifestyle topics.
Consumer edition of the Merck Manual. Covers health conditions, lifestyle, drug information, and medical emer
Health Literacy Resources
Introductory webinar from the National Library of Medicine.
Provides an overview of health literacy and numeracy and links to relevant guidelines, laws, and standards.
Resources from the Multi-Regional Clinical Trials Center on how to incorporate health literacy best practices into clinical research recruitment and conduct.
Patient Education Materials
Development Tools
Assessment Tools
Step-by-step guide to health literacy considerations for health communication.
Tool from the CDC to score health communication materials.
Tool from the University of Michigan Library on lay-friendly substitutions for medical terms.
The Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool, another standardized tool to evaluate patient education materials.