Health LiteracyPolicies to embed health literacy in the health and social care system

25 June 2015

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What approaches might we take?

Decide what we’re embedding

Life course

Outreach

Making it easy

Building capability

Taking opportunities

Measurement

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Decide what we are embedding

Source: Prof Judy Hibbard, University of Oregon

Health literacy is about people having the knowledge, skills, understanding and confidence to use health information, to be active partners in their care, and to navigate health and social care systems. Scottish Government

Empowerment

Participation

Compliance

Critical

Interactive

Functional

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Decide what we are embedding

Critical health literacy does not require functional health literacy.

Access to information andthe capacity to use it

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Life Course: transitions21st century framework, Iowa• civic literacy• employability skills• financial literacy• health literacy• technology literacy• 21st century skill frameworkhttps://iowacore.gov/iowa-core/subject/21st-century-skills

Health literacy as literacy and numeracy applied in a health context.

• Maternity• Education• Unemployment• Retirement

NHS, local government, employers, VCS

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Outreach: in the community• Skills for Life – strategy for improving adult literacy and numeracy

skills: now a web resource

• Skilled for Health – national programme that embeds Skills for Life learning into health improvement topics

• Ophelia (Optimising health literacy to improve health and equity) – collaboration of communities and workers to develop health literacy interventions that are based on needs identified within a community

• Identification of health literacy strengths and limitations of community

• Co-creation of health literacy interventions• Implementation, evaluation, support

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Making it easy: system re-design

Making it easy: A Health Literacy Action Plan for Scotland

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Making it easy: information redesign

• Information Standard and Accessible Information Standard

• Integration into care pathways • Shared space to design it once – role of

voluntary sector and other information providers

• jargon-free copies of clinic/discharge correspondence

• test results in meaningful and accessible formats

• tailoring information

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Building capability

• Jargon-free oral communication• Checking understanding – teach back, chunk and check• Core curriculum in education, training and CPD• Navigators, coaches etc

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Taking opportunities: service contact

• Sure Start• Recovery Colleges• EPP, SMP, DAFNE, DESMOND etc• Preference sensitive decisions

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Measurement: what’s the difference?

• Understandable and meaningful• Impactful