Tabriz University of Medical Sciences Health Promotion Perspectives 2228-6497 16 2 2026 08 21 Health Literacy: A Policy Imperative for Enhancing Heart Failure Care 192 200 10.34172/hpp.45385 EN Arash Ziapour https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8687-7484 Journal Article 10.34172/hpp.45385 2025 10 27 2026 02 22 Health literacy is a critical determinant of effective heart failure (HF) management and an essential policy priority for improving patient outcomes. Limited health literacy impairs disease understanding, self-care, treatment adherence, and quality of life while increasing healthcare utilization and hospital readmissions. This policy brief is informed by findings from a cross-sectional study of 385 patients with heart failure in northwest Iran. Health literacy was assessed using the Functional, Communicative, and Critical Health Literacy (FCCHL) scale. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analyses were performed to examine health literacy levels and their associations with key patient outcomes. The findings identified substantial deficiencies in health literacy among patients with heart failure, highlighting significant barriers to effective disease management and implementation of evidence-based cardiac care policies. Lower health literacy was associated with poorer self-care, reduced treatment adherence, and less favorable health outcomes, emphasizing the need for health literacy–responsive healthcare systems. Implications for Policy: Strengthening health literacy should be a national policy priority in heart failure care. Integrating structured health literacy interventions into routine clinical practice, implementing targeted patient education, and addressing social determinants of health can improve self-care, medication adherence, health equity, and quality of life. Evidence from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada indicates that post-discharge health literacy education clinics reduced hospital readmissions by 22%. Policy implementation should be accompanied by measurable indicators, including a 15% reduction in readmission rates within 12 months, improved medication adherence assessed using the Medication Adherence Report Scale (MARS), and periodic evaluation of patient health literacy using the FCCHL instrument. Immediate integration of health literacy into cardiac care frameworks is essential to reduce disparities and improve cardiovascular outcomes.