Over the past decade, the field of health literacy has advanced from providing limited tools for simplifying language into the basis for a viable theory of the complex relationship between knowledge, attitudes, behavior, and health outcomes, ranging from the individual to the societal level. While roughly a decade passed between what seem to be…

Clear communication between physicians and their patients is essential for the success of any health program or intervention. In some cases, though, doctors and patients do not speak the same language. Also, patients sometimes cannot read, or they read very little in any language, including their native tongue. Occasionally, interpreters may be…