Back to basics: why basic research is needed to create effective health literacy interventions.

Limited health literacy is increasingly recognized as a public health problem. Growing recognition of the problem--and the need for solutions--creates an imperative for the field of health literacy research to identify effective interventions. The National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy (U.S. DHHS, 2010) recommends increased basic research in health literacy. This paper elaborates on this call by explicating what is meant by basic research and describing several of the ways in which basic research will benefit the field of health literacy research and, particularly, progress toward designing successful interventions.