Preparing a Health Literate Workforce: The Role of Area Health Education Centers.

Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) play a vital role in creating health literate organizations. In this report, we highlight the work of three AHECs. The Massachusetts AHEC trains oral language healthcare interpreters who can effectively convey complex medical information to patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). The University of Kentucky AHEC trains providers to use the Universal Precautions Health Literacy Toolkit. Finally, the Wisconsin AHEC prepares community health workers (CHWs) to play a vital role in making it easy for people to navigate the healthcare system. These three AHECs serve as models of health literacy's diffusion.