Dear Colleagues,

Health literacy is always present, but too often is neglected. Overall, while a growing body of evidence strongly suggests that health literacy can be effective in public health when explicitly addressed, the concept and associated best practices of health literacy do not seem to be consistently or universally used within public health organizations. As a result, the effectiveness of public health efforts is reduced, and as a result public health suffers. Successfully integrating the best practices and knowledge of health literacy into public health practice is likely the most significant opportunity that currently exists to improve individual, community, and public health. The overall body of evidence regarding health literacy has clearly advanced to the point where it is logically impossible to conceive of a situation wherein health literacy is not at least a partial determinant of public health status. More likely, as more and stronger evidence is clearly warranted, health literacy is among the strongest determinants of public health in the human population. The tools for public health efforts are traditionally limited to regulation, technology development, education, and persuasion. As discussed in recent studies, health literacy works to shift the emphasis from education and persuasion to technology and regulation. That is not to diminish the role of the former, but to highlight the focus of health literacy. More importantly, health literacy may well be the best argument for the addition of engagement and/or empowerment as a core element of public health.

While the potential usefulness of health literacy for public health seems somewhat straightforward, what is not known is the extent to which, and how, public health organizations conceive of and operationalize health literacy, organize and train staff to address health literacy within their mission, and approach the development of materials with health literacy in mind. It is also unclear which personal characteristics, psychometric properties, and limitations affect health litracy intervention as well as the pathways that link patients to their health care providers and health outcomes. Therefore, we aim to focus on the use—and the lack of use—of health literacy through efforts to address public health in different communities. In particular, with main focus will be on efforts within state, local, tribal, and territorial public health organizations. Given the importance of health literacy for public health, it would be prudent to examine, for the first time, what is being done to evaluate health literacy in different communities.

Prof. Dr. Nooshin Peyman
Dr. Hassan Doosti
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.