Performing an Organizational Health Literacy Assessment in a Shelter Serving People with Mental Illness.

The mismatch between system demands and the literacy skills of people with SMI is more profound than that of the general United States population. Organizational health literacy assessments are achievable and useful for both immediate and long-term action aimed at understanding and improving the organizational health literacy of mental health spaces. Further work is needed to explore the role of behavioral health services in addressing the institutional and programmatic literacy demands that inhibit treatment and recovery. [] Plain Language Summary: An organizational health literacy assessment reveals how system demands can be changed to better serve intended users. Engaging in mental health, recovery, and treatment services requires complex literacy skills. Generally, the U.S. adult population does not have the skills to meet such demands, and this is especially true among public mental health service users.