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AHRQ Pharmacy Health Literacy Center
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This site provides pharmacists with recently-released health literacy tools and other resources and assistance from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). These include:
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What is Pharmacy Health Literacy?
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Pharmacy health literacy is the degree to which individuals are able to obtain, process, and understand basic health and medication information and pharmacy services needed to make appropriate health decisions.
- Only 12% of adults have proficient health literacy (e.g., can interpret the prescription label correctly)
- Medication errors are likely higher with patients with limited health literacy, as they are more likely to mis-interpret the prescription label information and auxiliary labels
- Studies document an association between low literacy and poor health outcomes
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Why is Health Literacy Important to Pharmacy?
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- Pharmacists are responsible for making sure patients obtain the maximum positive health outcomes from their medications
- Pharmacists care for patients with low to high education levels, low to high incomes, and multiple races of people; all of whom may have limited health literacy
- Medication errors are likely higher with patients with limited health literacy
- Studies document an association between low literacy and poor health outcomes
- Pharmacists are one of the most accessible health care providers
- Addressing literacy is an important quality improvement effort
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AHRQ Health Literacy Tools for Use in Pharmacies
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