Did you know that many of the criteria in the RACGP Standards for General Practices relate to health literacy? Health literacy is how well someone can access, understand and use health information and services.
Your service can make it easy for someone to make better health decisions by improving how you communicate health information. You can also make your service easier to navigate. We call this organisational health literacy, and it makes up part of a person’s heath literacy environment.
The Northern NSW Health Literacy Project supports health professionals to improve communication and remove barriers to accessing your service.
We don’t know a person’s level of health literacy by looking at them. So, we should use health literacy strategies for everyone, in all communication. Effective communication means:
- Prioritising a few key points
- Using plain language when talking to patients
- Using visual images, models and demonstrations to support spoken words
- Encouraging questions
- Checking patient understanding
Health literacy strategies can help you meet many criteria. Here are a few examples from the 5th edition standards.
- C1.1 A. Our patients can access up-to-date information about the practice.
- C1.3.A. Our patients receive information about proposed investigations, referrals and treatments, including their purpose, importance, benefits, and risks.
- C1.3.B. Our patients receive information to support the diagnosis, treatment, and management of their conditions.
- C.1.4C. Our patients can access resources that are culturally appropriate, translated, and/or in plain English.
- C1.5.A. Our patients are informed about out-of-pocket costs for health care they receive at our practice.
- QI1.2.B. Our practice analyses, considers and responds to feedback.
- QI2.2.A. Our patients are informed of the purpose, importance, benefits, and risks of their medicines and treatments.
- GP1.3.A. Our patients are informed about how they can access after-hours care.
- You can develop information that is easy to understand using the “checklist for writing consumer-friendly information”. This information can be about your service, available local supports or a specific condition. Find the checklist at: http://healthliteracy.nnswlhd.health.nsw.gov.au/written-communication/
- You can use the “consumer feedback form” on the same page to get feedback on your written information.
- You can also get feedback from your patients about your service. Try these tools for assessing the health literacy environment of your practice: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/healthliteracy/practice/environmental-barriers/
- Check that your patients understand health information using teach-back. See: http://www.teachbacktraining.org/
- You can also hold workshops at your practice for all staff. These can cover:
- What is health literacy?
- Written and verbal communication strategies
- Encouraging patient participation and improving self-management
- Checking your organisational health literacy
- Developing health literacy action plans
For more tips, see the “checklist for becoming a health literate organisation”. This includes ten attributes that a health literate organisation should have. Find it at: http://healthliteracy.nnswlhd.health.nsw.gov.au/organisational-health-literacy/
For more information, access to helpful tools, and to book a workshop, visit: Northern NSW Health Literacy Project or contact the Health Literacy Project Officer at [email protected].
We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land we live and work, the Bundjalung, Arakwal, Yaegl, Gumbaynggirr, Githabul, Dunghutti and Birpai Nations, and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to elders past, present and future.
