NALHD applies its nationally recognized expertise in health literacy to promote and support health literacy best practices across the public health system.
Since 2021, NALHD has been part of the City of Lincoln’s Multicultural Health Literacy Project, building health literacy expertise by developing targeted, multilingual communication assets for LHDs and partners, providing Teach Back and Plain Language training, and supporting nearly 100 LHD staff and community partners in earning Health Literacy Specialist certificates.
NALHD formed and facilitated the Public Health Language Access Network (PHLAN) to accelerate the adoption of best practices in language access and health literacy across the public health system.
NALHD encourages ongoing quality improvement by engaging members in our Health Literacy Champion Process. This process helps organizations assess and improve their health literacy practices. Local health departments in Nebraska have also used their Champion experience to help document health literacy practices for the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). The Horowitz Center for Health Literacy at the University of Maryland partnered with NALHD to adopt our Champion process and now makes their toolkit available to public health entities across the US.
Since 2012, the NALHD team has been at the forefront of providing health literacy training, resources, and technical assistance to local and tribal health departments. This pioneering work earned national recognition, including accolades from the Institute of Medicine’s Roundtable on Health Literacy in 2014 and the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) in 2016, underscoring the quality and impact of our initiatives.
