aarhus universitet health literacy: from populations to people gill rowlands health literacy group...
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AARHUSUNIVERSITET
Health literacy: From populations to people
Gill Rowlands
Health Literacy Group UKFellow of the Royal College of General
Practitioners, UKProfessor of Public Health, Aarhus University
DenmarkClinical Senior Lecturer, King’s College, London, UK
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What is health?
Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
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Preamble to the Constitution of the World Health Organization as adopted by the International Health Conference, New York, 19-22 June, 1946; signed on 22 July 1946 by the representatives of 61 States (Official Records of the World Health Organization, no. 2, p. 100) and entered into force on 7 April 1948
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What is health literacy?
Health literacy implies the achievement of a level of knowledge, personal skills and confidence to take action to improve personal and community health by changing personal lifestyles and living conditions.
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Nutbeam D. Health Promotion Glossary. Health Promotion International. 1999;13(4):349-64
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What is health literacy?
Health literacy means more than being able to read pamphlets and make appointments. By improving people’s access to health information, and their capacity to use it effectively, health literacy is critical to empowerment
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Nutbeam D. Health Promotion Glossary. Health Promotion International. 1999;13(4):349-64
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Health literacy and public health
• People with lower health literacy• Feel less well• Are more likely to be ill• Have lifetsyles that increase the risk
of illness• If they have a long-term illness they
are more likely to find the illness limiting
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The size of the problem
In industrialized countries, about half the population do not have the ‘level of knowledge, personal skills and confidence to take action to improve personal and community health by changing personal lifestyles and living conditions’
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Health literacy levels in England
The health information gap: the mismatch between population health literacy and the complexity of health information, an observational study.
Rowlands G, Protheroe J, Winkley J, Richardson M, Seed PT, Rudd RE. BJGP 2014 (accepted for
publication). Funders: MSD
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AARHUSUNIVERSITETNational and regional picture: % of
adults aged 16-65 years for whom health information is too complex
52
35
3538
4041
44
44
46
National average43%
Text (literacy) component of health materials
AARHUSUNIVERSITETNational and regional picture: % of
adults aged 16-65 years for whom health information is too complex
66
55
5455
5960
60
62
64
National average61%
Text (literacy) andNumeracycomponent of health materials
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Population portraits: literacy and numeracy
Lower job status: supervisory, routine, unemployed53% of population = 18 million peopleHealth material too complex for 74% of this group
Higher job status: managerial, intermediate47% of population = 16 million peopleHealth material too complex for 24% of this group
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Health literacy and patients
• How does it feel to be a patient with low health literacy?
• How should we respond to the challenges faced by patients with health literacy needs?
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How does it feel to be a patient with low health literacy?• Disempowered• Struggling with complex information• Multiple sources• High complexity• Stigmatised• Likely to be coping with other barriers to
health and well-being, e.g. low job status, low income, membership minority ethnic group etc.
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Improved health information• Need to ensure health information is
written at an accessible level• Develop systems to share high quality
information at different levels of complexity – tailored to patient health literacy as well as clinical need
• Meeting run by health literacy group UK to take this forward: 6 March 2015 in Leeds
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Health literacy and people
Building skills for health in individuals and communities
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Why?›Health is important to people – for themselves and their families – so is attractive as a learning objective
›Health literacy skills courses (e.g. Skilled for Health) build health knowledge, health skills, and confidence in health settings
›Skills building in communities supports social engagement and social networks – builds ‘distributed health literacy skills’ that community members can call upon if needed
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Why?›The skills built through health literacy courses are transferable to other areas of life e.g. finance
›Empowers communities – supports people to take control of their own health
›Moves from an illness setting (GP surgeries, hospitals) to a health setting (everyday life!)
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A call for partnerships›Low health literacy is a public health issue that has a real impact on people
›The solutions lie in simultaneous approaches› A health service more in tune to peoples’ health literacy needs› Community education that builds skills and empowers communities
›Health professionals have clinical skills and knowledge›Educators know how to develop skills in individuals and communities
›New streamlined and flexible systems bring opportunities for funding and joint working
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Discussion and Questions
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