Add Your Heading Text Here
Health Literacy
Health literacy means being able to access, understand and use health information and services. We can make it easier for people to access, understand and use our health services and information by using health literacy best practice. This page has strategies and tools that health professionals and services can use to improve health literacy.
How can you improve health literacy in your service?
Use plain language. Don’t use medial jargon or acronyms.
Use Teach-back to check for understanding. Complete a free online Teach-back course
Focus on 1-3 key messages per visit.
Simplify medication instructions and care plans.
Encourage questions e.g. say “Many people find this confusing…”
Advocate for clearer forms and after-visit summaries.
Focus on actions – what do I need to do next?
Use visuals to support spoken words – images, videos, diagrams.
Support consumers to use health literacy strategies
- Write down your questions and what you need to do next. This resource can help: Lets-PLAN-for-a-better-care-A4.pdf
- Keep an up-to-date medication list. Ask your doctor or pharmacist to check that your list is current.
- Bring a support person to appointments
- Call Get Healthy – a free phone and online health coaching service.
- Find out what other local support services are available to help you.
- For more tips visit: What can I do to improve my health literacy? – Health Literacy Northern NSW
Finding reliable health information online.
In Northern NSW, 2 out of every 5 people aged 15-64 and 1 out of every 5 people aged 65 and older look for health information online.
Looking for reliable information online can help you form questions for and communicate better with your doctor in person.
There are lots of ways to check if online information is reliable:
- Is it clear who wrote the material? E.g. an evidence-based organisation, or a blog from a consumer.
- Is the site trying to sell you something?
- Is the site Australian? Some information from overseas may not be relevant to our health system
- Is the information up to date?
Contact
Contact the Northern NSW Health Literacy Officers for:
- free health literacy and Teach-back education
- support to develop health information that meets health literacy standards.
Email: NNSWLHD-HealthLiteracy@health.nsw.gov.au
Health literacy resources:
- Health Literacy Checklist: check that written health information meets health literacy standards.
- Teachback.org: free online Teach-back course and resources
Health Literacy Northern NSW is an initiative of Healthy North Coast and Northern NSW Local Health District.
