Health Literacy

Health literacy encompasses more than simply comprehending health information. It involves ensuring that everyone can locate, understand, and apply health information to make informed decisions about their care. In Australia, 60% of people have low health literacy. Health literacy refers to an individual's ability to access, understand, evaluate, and apply health information in order to make informed decisions about their health. Partnering with patients, families, and caregivers to enhance their understanding of health issues can help reduce personal, community, and economic costs associated with care. Health literacy is closely linked to NSQHS Standard 2: Partnering with Consumers, which outlines the requirements for engaging consumers in collaborative partnerships in the governance of health service organizations.

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Statewide Health Literacy Hub FAQs

Developed in response to questions from Statewide Health Literacy Hub's community of practice, the following are answers to frequently asked questions.

How do I know if my paitent has poor health literacy?

Lower health literacy can be hard to detect, and people who have difficulty reading will often hide this fact. Health literacy can be situational because anxiety and stress can interfere with information processing. This is why experts recommend always using best practice health communication techniques with every patient. This includes using plain language, avoiding medical jargon, and checking for understanding.
See Statewide Health Literacy Hub Resources for further detail on written, verbal, and risk communication.

What can I do to make sure my paitent understands the information I tell them?

People are often shy about telling you they don’t understand, and sometimes forget important pieces of information. The number one health literacy technique recommended by experts is Teach-Back. Teach-Back involves asking a patient (or family member) to explain—in their own words—what they need to know or do, in a caring way. You can learn more about using Teach back on our verbal communication page.

How can I measure my patients' health literacy?

You may wish to measure health literacy for research and service improvement. There are many tools to do this, both generalised and condition specific. See Statewide Health Literacy Hub Measuring Health Literacy page.

For routine practice you may not need to know (or measure) your patients’ level of health literacy. Instead, take a ‘universal precautions’ approach and assume your patients may not understand the information and advice you have given. Use best practice communication techniques with each patient.

How can I encourage my patients to ask questions?

The question “What questions do you have?” invites your patients into the conversation and tells them you expect and are willing to answer questions. The use of question prompt lists, such as the AskShareKnow question list, is also an evidence-based method to encourage patients to ask questions.

What is the best way to communicate absolute and relative risk to my patients?

One way to help patients understand personal risk is by using a visual icon array. This helps you to illustrate e.g. that 3 in 20 people with this condition recover without treatment; or 3 in 100 people on this medication experience side-effects. Learn more on our Risk Communication page.