Efforts to improve health literacy in Missouri were guided by the
adoption of a theory-based logic model and informed by a multidisciplinary team of community and academic stakeholders familiar with ecologic models.
This paper outlines the series of efforts that culminated in the creation of the Health Literacy Missouri Initiative, which has been tasked to strengthen the evidence base for health literacy, improve health literacy through education and community collaboration, and create systemic change in the health system starting at the patient-provider interface. We immediately appreciated the universality of the resulting model, inherent in the precept that health literacy is woven into the fabric of good health; adorned by the group, not the individual.