• What is "Great Rivers Partners?"

    • It is a group of several area organizations who have come together to promote health literacy in our region.
    • Partners are the Community Literacy Coalition (CLC), Franciscan Skemp Healthcare/Mayo Health System, Gundersen Lutheran and the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse.
    • The project is funded by a grant from the National Library of Medicine. The partners will raise awareness of health literacy by holding brief information sessions in area communities. Additional funding is provided by Southwest Wisconsin Area Health Education Center (SWAHEC); the Franciscan Skemp Foundation, the Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation; and the Gundersen Lutheran Health System.
    • Public librarians will have the opportunity to receive training in providing health information to consumers.
    • Healthcare consumers will be provided with the tools to get the most out of their doctor visits.
    • Healthcare professionals and students in the health care field will also be provided skills for working more effectively with patients.

  • What is health literacy?

    • It is your ability to:
      1. Get information about your health from a doctor or health provider.
      2. Understand what to do or how to use the information to keep you healthy.
      3. Take your pills correctly or follow your health care plan at home.

  • In order to get what you need from your doctor or health care provider:
      1. Make sure you ask questions if you don't understand.
      2. Bring along a notebook to write down answers.
      3. Have someone come to appointments with you to help keep track of the information.

This project has been funded by the National Library of Medicine under Contract No. NO1-LM-6-3503 with the University of Illinois at Chicago, Library of the Health Sciences.