The ability to read, understand and act on health-care information.

Center for Health Care Strategies, Inc., 1997

The capacity of individuals to obtain, interpret and understand basic health information and services and the competence to use such
information and services in ways which enhance health. 

Joint Committee on National, Health Education Standards, 1998

The cognitive and social skills that determine the motivation and ability of individuals to gain access, to understand and use
information in ways which promote and maintain good health.

Health literacy implies the achievement of a level of knowledge, personal skills and confidence to take action to improve personal and community health by changing personal lifestyles and living conditions. Thus, health literacy means more than being able to read pamphlets and make appointments.

By improving people’s access to health information, and their capacity to use it effectively, health literacy is critical to empowerment. Health literacy is itself dependent upon more general levels of literacy. Poor literacy can affect people’s health directly by limiting their personal, social and cultural development, as well as hindering the development of health literacy.

World Health Organization (WHO)
Health Promotion Glossary of Terms, 1998

A constellation of skills, including the ability of individuals to gain access, to understand and use information in ways which promote
and maintain good health.

Ad Hoc Committee on Health Literacy for the Council
on Scientific Affairs, American Medical Association, 1999

The degree to which individuals can obtain, process and understand the basic health information and services they need to make
appropriate health decisions.

(Diese Definition verwendet auch der Institute of Medicine’s Bericht Health Literacy: Prescription to End
Confusion (2004) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services’ Healthy People 2010) National Library of Medicine’s
Health Literacy, Selden, C. et al., 2000

The personal, cognitive and social skills which determine the ability
of individuals to gain access, to understand and use information to
promote and maintain good health. Three levels of health literacy
were identified:
1. basic or functional health literacy;
2. communicative or interactive health literacy; and,
3. critical health literacy

Health Literacy as a Public Health Goal, Don Nutbeam, 2000

The wide range of skills and competencies that people develop to seek out, comprehend, evaluate and use health information and
concepts to make informed choices, reduce health risks and increase quality of life.

Understanding Health Literacy, Zarcadoolas, Pleasant and Greer, 2005

The ability to make sound health decisions in the context of everyday life—at home, in the community, at the workplace, in the healthcare system, the marketplace and the political arena. It is a critical empowerment strategy to increase people’s control over their health, their ability to seek out information and their ability to take responsibility.

Navigating Health: The Role of Health Literacy, Kickbusch, Wait and Maag, 2005

... the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information needed to make appropriate health decisions and services needed to prevent or treat illness.

Health Resources and Services Administration

Health literacy includes the ability to understand instructions on prescription drug bottles, appointment slips, medical education brochures, doctor's directions and consent forms, and the ability to negotiate complex health care systems. Health literacy is not simply the ability to read. It requires a complex group of reading, listening, analytical, and decision-making skills, and the ability to apply these skills to health situations.

 

Health literacy varies by context and setting and is not necessarily related to years of education or general reading ability. A person who functions adequately at home or work may have marginal or inadequate literacy in a health care environment. With the move towards a more "consumer-centric" health care system as part of an overall effort to improve the quality of health care and to reduce health care costs, individuals need to take an even more active role in health care related decisions. To accomplish this people need strong health information skills.

The National Network of Libraries of Medicine 

These are the skills that all people need to, for instance, find their way to the right place in a hospital, fill out medical and insurance forms, and communicate with healthcare providers.

The Literacy Assistance Center of New York

A constellation of skills, including the ability to perform basic reading and numerical tasks required to function in the health care environment.

The American Medical Association Ad Hoc Committee on Health Literacy

The wide range of skills and competencies that people develop to seek out, comprehend, evaluate, communicate, and use health information and concepts to make informed choices, reduce health risks, reduce inequities in health, and increase quality of life.

Zarcadoolas, Pleasant & Greer

Health Literacy is the ability to get information, understand it, and use information to lower risk and better health.

Center for Health Literacy at the University of Maryland School of Public Health

A measure of a person's ability to understand health-related information and make informed decisions about that information. Health literacy includes interpreting prescriptions and following self care instructions. 

Gesundheit

Ein Zustand vollkommenen körperlichen, geistigen und sozialen Wohlbefindens und nicht allein das Fehlen

von Krankheit und Gebrechen.

 

WHO Constitution, 1948

Kompetenz

Das ist die Fähigkeit sich den individuellen oder sozialen Anforderungen erfolgreich zu stellen oder eine

Aktivität oder eine Aufgabe zu erledigen.

 

DeSeCo, 2002