Incorporating digital health into organizational health literacy: An updated definition, tools, and recommendations.

Abstract

Health literacy is important from two perspectives: the individuals (personal health literacy) and the organizations providing information and services (organizational health literacy). While research has addressed digitalization in healthcare and associated barriers and enablers in personal health literacy (e.g., digital health literacy), these developments have not been paraleled in organizational health literacy. In this article, we proposed an augmented definition of organizational health literacy and conducted a gap analysis of the Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit to expand it for digital health. Important advancements, specifically for virtual care, have been made, yet a broader approach must be adopted for all digital health technology. We proposed a series of modifications to emphasize the importance of digital health in organizational health literacy. Organizations must equitably enable individuals to understand and use digital information and services. In this monograph, we describe the current informatics gap and the required competencies, policies, and infrastructure to close the gap.