By: WHF Staff

It is Monday morning, and your child wakes up with a sore throat and a temperature of 102°F. You call your child’s pediatrician to schedule a same-day appointment,  but the earliest available opening isn’t until Friday. Your heart tells you your child needs to be seen today. Should you take your child to the emergency room or Urgent Care immediately, or wait to be seen later by your child’s pediatrician? For many, making the right choice in these situations is daunting, especially when understanding medical information or navigating the healthcare system feels overwhelming.

Thanks to The HEAL Program at Literacy for Life, making medical choices for many adults in Greater Williamsburg has become easier. By improving health literacy, HEAL has helped hundreds of our neighbors gain the knowledge and confidence to assess medical options and take control of their health.

Health literacy is defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as “the degree to which individuals have the ability to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others.” Yet, only about one in 10 Americans has proficient health literacy to navigate the healthcare system, while nearly 36% have basic or low health literacy. For these individuals, accessing quality health services and making informed choices are a challenge, leading to poorer health outcomes, higher hospitalization rates, increased emergency room use, difficulty managing chronic diseases, increased medication errors, and higher healthcare costs.

Recognizing this critical need, in 2012 Literacy for Life established The HEAL Program. The eight-week program empowers adults, both those with limited English proficiency and native English speakers with low health literacy, to build the knowledge and confidence needed to take control of their health. The course covers practical skills, such as reading medication instructions and medical forms, encouraging  disease prevention, making healthy lifestyle choices, and communicating effectively with healthcare providers.

Literacy for Life’s aim of providing health literacy and education aligns with WHF’s strategic plan of improving access to care and enhancing health in Greater Williamsburg. The Foundation has contributed to Literacy for Life’s mission through 16 grants totaling nearly $556,000 since 2008. To learn more about Literacy for Life and The HEAL Program, please visit their website https://www.literacyforlife.org/heal.

 WHF is an independent private health foundation with the mission to enhance health in Greater Williamsburg. The Foundation was established in September 1996 when the Williamsburg Community Hospital and Sentara developed an affiliation agreement and later merged. This agreement included a provision for a new, locally organized, and managed Foundation to benefit community health. Since inception, WHF has awarded over $119 million in grants to improve community health and well-being.