A Different Kind of Health Care Reform: The Fairfax County Health Literacy Initiative

Professor Mike Dickerson

Conversations about important health care reform aren’t stirring up in nearby Washington, D.C. on Capitol Hill, in the Senate, or in the White House. But they are taking place between local government agencies, community organizations in Fairfax County. However, it’s a different type of health care reform that is being discussed. This joint effort is as bi-partisan as it can get.
A planning team of government officials and health professionals from the Fairfax County Health Department along with Inova Health System, George Mason University’s Center for Health & Risk Communication, and several area non-profit organizations are convening in a joint effort to address critical health literacy issues in Fairfax County. The Fairfax County Health Literacy Initiative was born out of a partnership between the Fairfax County Public Library and Inova Health System, Northern Virginia’s largest health care provider in 2007 according to the National Institute of Health. The initiative aims to identify potential partners, review best practices from other community efforts, study related research opportunities, investigate appropriate funding resources, and encourage networking.
The two-tiered project aims to improve health literacy by both health care professional and the health care consumer. The first tier of the initiative included the “Easy to Read Health Information for Health Care Consumers” in order to educate Inova health care providers. The second tier of the initiative involves the planning of members from the Fairfax County: Public Library, Parks & Recreation Authority, Senior Centers, as well as Social Service agencies, several non-profit organizations, which are also on board the community based grass-roots organization.
“You can just imagine the power of effective communication within the health care industry and the potential it has.” said Dr. Gary L Kreps, Chair of the Department of Communication and Director of the Center for Health & Risk Communication at George Mason University, whose center is committed to using evidence-based strategic communication to reduce health risks and promote well being. Also, Dr. Kreps mentioned that “the Fairfax County Health Care Literacy Initiative will develop projects and outreach to provide information about health and health promotion and materials to: children, the elderly, immigrants, and people with low levels of income.”
With the same spirit off innovation that Inova Health system and George Mason University was founded on, the Fairfax County Health Initiative seems like the synergistic partnership the Washington D.C. can learn from when innovating health care reform.