Frequently Asked Questions

Have a question about our Health Literacy Specialist Certificate program? Scan this page for quick answers to common inquiries.

We’ve compiled information on everything from program requirements and admissions to coursework and career opportunities.

Certificate vs. Certification

IHA’s Health Literacy Specialist Certificate is an educational credential you earn upon completion of all seven courses. It provides knowledge and abilities in the field of health literacy and provides a path to expertise without the need for an advanced degree.

This is not a certification. Certification involves sitting for an in-person exam that meets ongoing professional standards to confirm that a person has the competency (skills, knowledge, and abilities) to carry out a certain role. IHA is currently exploring the development of a formal certification program for a health literacy specialist.

Our Certificate Program is awarded the ICE 1100: 2019 – Standard for Assessment-Based Certificate

On July 5, 2023, the Institute for Credentialing Excellence (ICE) granted accreditation to IHA’s Health Literacy Specialist Certificate Program for demonstrating compliance with ICE 1100:2019 – Standard for Assessment-Based Certificate Programs.

ICE 1100 was first published in January 2009 to ensure that assessment-based certificate programs adhere to modern standards of practice for the credentialing industry.

The Standard was updated in 2019 and is approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for adoption as an American National Standard. More information about ICE is available online at www.credentialingexcellence.org or by calling 202-367-1165.

Enrolling

About the Certificate Program

No. Anyone can complete any number of courses. However, you should have a basic understanding about health literacy prior to taking the course.

An assessment-based certificate program means you must complete the program and pass a test to earn the digital badge. You have 3 attempts to pass each exam.

Each Course varies in length depending on the number topics and modules. Generally courses take between 8 to 16 hours.

You have six months from when you begin to complete each Course.

You complete a Course after completing all course modules and passing a summative exam. The exam includes multiple-choice and multiple-response questions to assess learning.

Technical

Access Issues

Please be sure to check with your IT department to see if they use SPAM / web filtering. If they do, we recommend the following domains be whitelisted to ensure email and web access for you or those participating in the program from your organization:

  • mailgun.commpartners.com
  • badgr.com
  • fasttestweb.com
  • learn.healthliteracysolutions.org
  • scorm.com

Pricing

You can pay online when registering via credit card. You can pay by check by contacting Yolanda Herrera at yherrera@iha4health.org.
She can also provide you with an invoice for your purchase.

Yes, if you have 5 or more people that want to register for the certificate program, please contact Beth Scott at bscott@iha4health.org.

Please contact Yolanda Herrera at yherrera@iha4health.org.

Exams

After completing the lessons, you will be directed to a link to complete an online exam. There are no other methods of conducting the exam (e.g., face to face, paper and pencil), and proctoring is not required. The exam is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, allowing you to complete it at your convenience. Once you begin the exam, you must finish it in one sitting. The exam does not have a time limit to complete, and most participants finish in approximately 2 hours. You are allowed 3 attempts to pass the exam.

All exam questions are scored as correct or incorrect. There is no partial credit for multiple response questions when more than one answer is correct. The passing score for each exam was established using a criterion-reference technique called standard setting. During standard setting, a group of at least 8 qualified and trained SMEs met to evaluate each question and recommend the passing score. IHA beta tested the exam questions and used resulting data to inform a final decision regarding an adopted passing score. Immediately after completing the exam, you will be able to access your score report.

Immediately after completing the exam, you will receive your score report. The report includes your name and the exam score with a pass/no pass indication.

No. This is a certificate program, not a certification. As such, you will earn a digital badge for each course after you pass the exam. If you complete all 7 courses, you will earn a Health Literacy Specialist Certificate.

Continuing Education

On the Certificate Program page, the credit allocation for each course is available for viewing once you click the “Learn More” button. The total sum of credits for all seven courses is 49.

  • Certified Health Education Specialists (CHES) and/or Master Certified Health Education Specialists (MCHES): Contact Hours from NCHEC, Provider #101864.
  • Outside of California Nurses- Institute for Healthcare Advancement is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
  • California Registered Nurses (RN, NP, NMW, CNS, PHN, NA): Contact hours from the CA Board of RN, CEP# 11933.
  • CPH Recertification Credits: From the National Board of Public Health Examiners.

After completing a course, you will be directed to a link to complete an online exam. The exam is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, allowing you to complete it at your convenience. Once you begin the exam, you must finish it in one sitting. The exam does not have a time limit to complete, and most participants finish in approximately 2 hours. You must receive a score of 480 or higher to request a CE certificate. You will have three opportunities (6 months from the program start date) to pass the exam.

Once you pass the exam you will receive a link to the Continuing Education Form to request CE credits. Upon receipt of the form, IHA will email your CE Certificate. These are emailed at the beginning of each month.

Upon receiving your certificate, review the accreditation provider instructions below to understand how to acquire your CE credits.

  • California Registered Nurse (RN) – You must self-report your time on the CA Board of RN website. Keep the Certificate of Completion for 4 years in case you are audited by the CA Board of Registered Nurses.
  • Nurses outside of California– Keep the Certificate of Completion for 4 years in case you are audited by your state licensing board.
  • Certified Public Health (CPH) – You must self-report your time on the CPH Recertification and Reporting System portal.
  • Certified Health Education Specialists (CHES/MCHES) – IHA reports Category I and Continuing Competency credits to NCHEC quarterly on January 15th, April 15th, July 15th, and October 15th. If you are requesting Category II credits, you must complete the online Category II Claim Form on NCHEC’s website within 90 days.

Eskarlethe Juarez at ejuarez@iha4health.org.

Completing the Program

Once you earn the Health Literacy Specialist Certificate, you:

  • may state that you hold a certificate in Health Literacy;
  • shall not state that you are certified in Health Literacy; and
  • shall not use acronyms or letters after your name in reference to the certificate.

When you receive your first badge, you’ll get an email from Canvas Credentials with a link to view it. For any future badges, you will not receive additional emails.
Badges are issued on the Friday after you complete a course. If you’ve already received your first badge, please check your Canvas Credentials account after that Friday to view new badges.

If you don’t see your badge after that time, please contact us for assistance.

Your digital badge allows you to showcase your achievement professionally. You can:

  • Share it on social media
  • Display it on your resume or personal website
  • Add it to your LinkedIn profile
  • Include it in your email signature

If you do not receive your badge email or have trouble accessing Canvas Badges, please submit a request for assistance.

No. Once you earn the course, you will keep it forever.

Digital badges are an appropriate, easy and efficient way for organizations to exhibit and reward participants for skills obtained in professional development in an online, publicly searchable way.

Digital badges are more than just a visual graphic. It is a dynamic portable icon that is embedded with the qualifying information about the issuer and a detailed description of the competencies met. When the badge icon is clicked, this information shows and can be authenticated and verified.

However, sharing badges on social media sites allows users to showcase their learning, as the badge contains verified learning information. To share on LinkedIn, find the badge in your Backpack, click “Share”, and navigate to LinkedIn. Click Add to Profile then Save. 

IHA selected Badgr for our digital badge platform. You can create an account in Badgr to manage your badges in your “Backpack”. In Badgr, you can share single badges or badge collections with users, websites, or social media.

After you complete the micro-credential and pass the assessment, you will receive an email from Badgr with your digital badge. You can download and save the badge image for your resume. 

Program Development

The HLS Certificate Program was created in strict accordance with Institute for Credentialing Excellence (ICE) 1100 accreditation standards.
To develop the series of courses and exams, IHA conducted a comprehensive study, called a Job Analysis. The job analysis identified the essential roles and responsibilities related to health literacy. This resulting content formed the foundation of the program. Each exam includes at least 50 multiple-choice and multiple-response items.

The training content was developed by subject matter experts (SMEs) with specialized knowledge in the field. Qualified and trained SMEs also participated in standard-setting to establish the passing score.

2016
IHA convened a Job Analysis task force, a diverse, demographically representative panel of subject matter experts (SMEs) and tasked them to answer the question: “What does one need to know, and need to be able to do, in order to be considered a health literacy specialist?”

2017
Knowledge statements and task statements were compiled and sorted by a psychometrics firm and disseminated to members of the health literacy community to vet and validate.

2017 – 2021
The resulting Certificate comprises seven areas, referred to as micro-credentials. SMEs, instructional designers, writers, peer reviewers, and editors created, reviewed, and tested the learning modules. Item writers, SMEs, and a psychometrician created the assessment exams for each course, and – through standard-setting reviews and beta testing – set appropriate cut scores necessary to earn the course.

For technical help please contact us using our online support page.