Roughly 100 healthcare professionals, educators, librarians and government and business leaders gathered at the University of Tennessee Medical Center Monday to attend the state's first-ever health literacy forum.
Cynthia Baur, PhD, senior advisor for health literacy and the senior official for the Plain Writing Act with the CDC's Office of the Associate Director for Communication, served as both the host and the keynote speaker of the forum.
"Many people say if only senior leaders would speak up about the importance of health literacy, then we would make progress," Dr. Baur in her keynote address. "Leaders are speaking up, and we should use their support and the readily available knowledge and tools to improve health literacy in our organizations and communities for families and caregivers everywhere."
In addition to Dr. Baur's address, panelists, presenters and forum attendees discussed health literacy-focused state government policies, health information and library professional strategies to improve patient engagement, and improving medication adherence through inter-professional collaborations and patient education.
According to Sandy Oelschlegel, director of UTMC's Health Information Center, the forum served as a catalyst in "generating conversation specific to health literacy needs in Tennessee."
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