Useful Web Sites

• National Council on Interpreting in Health Care
• LEP.gov
• The Joint Commission: Hospitals, Language & Culture
• Society for Healthcare Consumer Advocacy

TAHIT Publications

Health Information in Languages other than English

• Medline Plus
• Conversion of website available in Spanish
• Specific topics available in more than 40 languages (inc. Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese, Russian)
• Imbedded medical dictionary 
• Refugee Health Information Network (RHIN)
• Designed to provide health information in multiple languages for those providing care to refugees and asylees
• Languages include those spoken by refugees in the United States as well as Russian, Korean, Vietnamese, and Mandarin
• Also includes specific cultural background information

Health Literacy

• Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion
• Institute of Medicine Report from Committee on Health Literacy, 2004 
• Plain Language Initiative
• Part of government initiative to improve communication from the federal government to the general public
• Includes whole section on health literacy and communication
• Partnership for Clear Health Communication/AskMe3 Initiative
• Promotes clear communication between patients and health care providers as the key to healthy patients 
• Clear Health Communications (Pfizer)
• Advocates for the idea that clear health communication is an important part of a patient’s ability to understand and act upon health information
• NC Program on Health Literacy (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
• Also a toolkit designed to help healthcare providers assess their practice, raise awareness and work on specific areas to ensure that patients can succeed in the health care environment.
• Lots of basic information on health literacy
• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Health Literacy and Cultural Competency

TAHIT would like to thank Cheryl Rowan, Public Health Outreach Coordinator at the South Central Region Office of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, for her assistance in compiling the multilingual health information and health literacy resources.