CLEVELAND, Ohio (September 23, 2001)—St. Vincent Charity Medical Center and Project: Learn have made the difficult decision to postpone the Ohio Health Literacy Conference, scheduled for October 12-13, 2011, at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel.
“We feel very strongly that while there is a lot of passion around the topic of health literacy, we just haven’t seen support in terms of registration numbers,” said Karen Komondor, co-chair of the event. “We feel it’s prudent to pull back from the Ohio Health Literacy Conference at this time and regroup in 2012.”
There’s a great need to build awareness about health literacy and its importance to healthcare providers around the state. In its National Action Plan for Improvement of Health Literacy, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Control and Prevention defines low health literacy a public health issue.
“It will take everyone working together in a linked and coordinated manner to improve access to accurate and actionable health information and usable health services,” according to the National Action Plan, published in June 2010. “By focusing on health literacy issues and working together, we can improve the accessibility, quality, and safety of health care; reduce costs; and improve the health and quality of life of millions of people in the United States.”
That’s what this first-year event sought to do—bring together providers and experts to expand awareness; share best practices; and begin discussions on a statewide collaborative to improve health literacy across Ohio.
“This is a relatively new field, but we were fortunate to have such strong early support from foundations, partners and sponsors, including our presenting sponsors, Regency Construction and The Center for Health Affairs and its business affiliate CHAMPS Healthcare,” said Komondor.
“We do feel strongly that the state healthcare providers will ultimately support the issue, but our committee agreed that we need more time to build up awareness about the need for a health literate population both from the provider side and in the public arena,” she said.
St. Vincent Charity Medical Center and Project: Learn—partners in creating a health literate culture across the care continuum since 2007—remain committed to leading the discussion, elevating awareness about and proactively addressing the health literacy of the Greater Cleveland community.
“We are so appreciative of all the support and enthusiasm we received: from speakers, sponsors, foundations and our partner organizations in planning this event. We know we can count on their continued support as we work to raise awareness and education about the importance of health literacy,” Komondor said.