Nearly half of all American adults—90 million people—have difficulty understanding and acting upon health information. The American Academy of Pediatrics has been active in addressing pediatric-specific issues related to health literacy and parent/patient understanding.

*AAP convened a conference on health literacy and pediatrics in November, 2008: "A Health-Literate American : Where Do Children Fit In?" Conference papers are published in a supplement to Pediatrics.

* AAP has developed a comprehensive resource for health literacy on pediatrics, Plain Language Pediatrics: Health Literacy Strategies and Communication Resources for Common Pediatric Topics.

*AAP has launched a Pedialink continuing medical education (CME) course, Health Literacy, for pediatric health care providers to increase health literacy awareness. The course is free to residents.

*AAP Healthy Tomorrows Partnership for Children sponsored a webinar entitled, Putting Health Literacy into Practice: A Pediatric Approach. (See slides and parent video clips from the webinar.)

Other health literacy resources:

* Institute of Medicine Report on Health Literacy, "Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion"

* American College of Physicians (ACP) Foundation

* American Medical Association (AMA) Foundation

* Partnership for Clear Health Communication—AAP is member organization