National Minority Health Month: Better Health Through Better Understanding

CDC’s Office of Health Equity recognizes National Minority Health Month as part of our 35th anniversary celebration of “baking” health equity into our public health work. “Baking” health equity into our work means that health equity is a foundational ingredient in our work, rather than a separate ingredient we layer in, sprinkle on top, or serve on the side.

National Minority Health Month is a time to raise awareness of the importance of improving the health of racial and ethnic minority communities. This year’s theme, Better Health Through Better Understanding, focuses on improving health literacy by providing communities with healthcare services, information, and resources.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) defines personal health literacy as the degree to which individuals can find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others.¹ Organizational health literacy is the degree to which organizations equitably enable individuals to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others. When we provide people with culturally and linguistically appropriate information, they are empowered to create healthier outcomes for themselves and their communities.

Health literacy and health outcomes are interconnected. An estimated 14 percent, or 1 in 7, adults in the United States have below basic proficiency in health literacy.² Limited health literacy is a barrier to accessing health information, proper medication use, and following instructions from a health care provider— all of which may adversely affect health outcomes.³

Strategies to increase personal health literacy benefit us all and may decrease health disparities. Health disparities are preventable differences in the burden of disease, injury, violence, or opportunities to achieve optimal health that are experienced by populations that have been socially, economically, geographically, and environmentally disadvantaged.⁴

Health literacy advances equity by making health information accessible to all populations. Healthcare systems, public health organizations, and the people they employ can all play a role in making their information easy to find, understand, and use.

This National Minority Health Month, CDC’s Office of Health Equity highlights how we are ‘baking in’ health equity into the core of CDC’s work by sharing the resources listed below. Learn more about health equity and related concepts in this series of short videos.

• CORE Health Equity Strategy – Through this agency-wide strategy, CDC is integrating health equity into the fabric of our work at all levels. CDC is transforming our public health research, surveillance, and implementation science efforts to shift from simply listing the markers of health inequities to identifying and addressing the drivers of these disparities.
• Health Equity in Action – This web page spotlights projects that align with CDC’s CORE (Cultivate, Optimize, Reinforce, Enhance) commitment and shares the lived experiences of communities advancing health equity.
• Inclusive Communication and Health Literacy Resources – The Health Equity Guiding Principles for Inclusive Communication help public health professionals adapt their communication products and strategies to the specific cultural, linguistic, environmental, and historical context of their audience. Additional resources for advancing health literacy, such as action plans and trainings, are also available on CDC’s Health Literacy: Accurate, Accessible and Actionable Health Information for All web page.
• Conversations in Equity – This collection of blogs is dedicated to increasing awareness of health inequities. We share lived experiences from community members and how partnerships can help improve health outcomes, including this recent blog post on National Minority Health Month: Better Health Through Better Understanding.

Learn about how CDC’s Office of Health Equity celebrates 35 years of ‘baking’ health equity in all our work. Stay up-to-date on the latest news and events by subscribing to OHE’s newsletters.