Use plain, nonmedical language
Use common words that you would use to explain medical information to your friends or family, such as joint pain instead of arthralgia.
Health literacy1
How we communicate and how we interpret others’ communication styles is influenced by various factors.
Key principles
Even people who read well and are comfortable using numbers can face health literacy issues when:
They aren’t familiar with medical terms or how their bodies work
They have to interpret statistics and evaluate risks and benefits of interventions that affect their health and safety
They are diagnosed with a serious illness and are scared and confused
They have health conditions that require complicated self-care
Understanding and adherence checklist2
Patients with PsA may struggle to understand the health information you provide. Here are some key strategies to improve communication:
Use the patient’s words
Take note of what words the patient uses to describe their illness and use them in your conversation.
Slow down
Speak clearly and at a moderate pace.
Limit and repeat messages
Prioritize what needs to be discussed, and limit information to three to five key points and repeat them.
Be specific and concrete
Don’t use vague and subjective terms that can be interpreted in different ways.
Show graphics
Draw pictures, use illustrations, or demonstrate with 3-D models. All pictures and models should be simple, designed to demonstrate only the important concepts, without detailed anatomy.
Demonstrate how it’s done
Whether doing exercises or taking medicine, a demonstration of how to do something may be clearer than a verbal explanation.
Adopted from Providing CLAS – Think Cultural Health with input from people living with PsA and an expert steering committee.
Assessing health literacy3
Learning how to assess health literacy is an important part of providing quality care to patients.
Determining if a patient needs additional help understanding their care/treatment will assist you in effectively partnering with patients.
Using the single item literacy screener (SILS)
- HCPs can quickly determine which patients are most likely to require additional help understanding their treatment.
- Scores greater than 2 are considered positive, indicating some difficulty with reading printed health-related material.
- Consider including the SILS on a patient’s pre-visit paperwork.
Single item literacy screener
“How often do you need to have someone help you when you read instructions, pamphlets, or other written material from your doctor or pharmacy?”
Possible responses:
Never (1)
Rarely (2)
Sometimes (3)
Often (4)
Always (5)
Scores greater than 2 are considered positive, indicating some difficulty with reading printed health-related material.
Related patient resources
About psoriatic arthritis
A webpage from the National Psoriasis Foundation that provides general information about PsA, including symptoms, treatment, diagnosis, and life with PsA.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Understanding Health Literacy. Accessed May 22, 2026. https://www.cdc.gov/health-literacy/php/about/understanding.html?CDC_AAref_Val=https://www.cdc.gov/healthliteracy/learn/Understanding.html
- Office of Minority Health, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Think cultural health. Providing CLAS. Accessed May 22, 2026. https://thinkculturalhealth.hhs.gov/assets/pdfs/resource-library/providing-clas.pdf
- Morris NS, MacLean CD, Chew LD, et al. The Single Item Literacy Screener: Evaluation of a brief instrument to identify limited reading ability. BMC Fam Pract. 2006;7:21. doi:10.1186/1471-2296-7-21