Health Literacy 2030: Is It Time to Redefine the Term?

For decades, health literacy has been used to describe the ability of individuals to locate, interpret, and apply health information to their decisions. The US Department of Health and Human Services has now proposed redefining the term to emphasize the role of society in providing accessible, comprehensible information. This redefinition would reflect a welcome shift to encompass the roles of those who communicate information, not simply those who seek it. However, redefining an accepted term would have serious negative effects on the indexing of the research literature and create difficulties interpreting studies conducted under the previous definition.