LEONARDTOWN, MD (March 7, 2016) – The Healthy St. Mary’s Partnership (HSMP) has announced an upcoming community presentation on the Integrated Health Literacy Program (IHLP) currently being implemented in Worcester County, Maryland. The HSMP is a community-driven coalition of partners working together to improve health in St. Mary’s County. The coalition mobilizes members through four action teams to address the priority health issues in St. Mary’s County including Access to Care, Behavioral Health, Healthy Eating & Active Living, and Tobacco Free Living.
The upcoming presentation will be hosted by the Access to Care Action Team on Thursday, March 24, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. at the St. Mary’s County Health Department, located at 21580 Peabody Street in Leonardtown. Health literacy is the ability to obtain, process, understand, utilize and apply basic health information, allowing an individual to make appropriate health decisions. According to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Assessment of Adult Literacy, only 12 percent of adults have proficient health literacy. The study found that individuals with a health literacy level below basic were much more likely to report their health as being poor and less likely to use preventive health services than their peers.
“The Access to Care team is excited to bring this presentation to St. Mary’s County to start a discussion on health literacy in our community and the need to start this learning process as early as possible,” said Lori Werrell, Director of Health Connections at MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital and Co-Chair of the Access to Care Action Team. “When empowered with the knowledge needed to make healthy decisions throughout life, chronic conditions can be prevented or delayed and quality of life can be enhanced for many coping with chronic conditions.”
This presentation is open to any community members who are interested in learning more about improving health literacy. Visit healthystmarys.com or call 301-475-4323 for more information or to sign up for the free HSMP e-newsletter. Healthy St. Mary’s Partnership membership is free, and all interested organizations and community members are invited to join.
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