Health literacy
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care defines health literacy as how people understand information about health and health care, and how they act on it. Health literacy affects all areas of medicine selection, use and adherence. People with low health literacy are more likely to have medicine errors and worse health outcomes.
Health literacy implementation strategy
Health literacy is a strong focus for NPS MedicineWise. In 2020 the organisation published its strategy for improving health literacy at an individual, organisational and system level.
Measuring consumer health literacy
The National Consumer Survey measures consumer awareness of QUM and consumer health literacy over time.
Health literacy audit
In partnership with Sydney Health Literacy Lab, NPS MedicineWise assessed existing consumer content and resources. This audit aimed to find out to what extent the resources help build health literacy and make recommendations for improvement.
Health literacy toolkit
The National Medicines Symposium (NMS) 2022 on the ABC of Health Literacy aimed to help put health literacy into action to improve QUM.
There are many tools available for individuals, health professionals and health organisations. This toolkit contains the tools highlighted at the conference and some others that we like.
Consumer Health Literacy Segmentation and Activation Research
This project explored the different consumer segments as they relate to QUM health literacy and gave recommendations for resource/programs to fill unmet needs. It also named relevant QUM and health literacy indicators for future evaluation of collective impact.
Primary Health Network Health Literacy Project
This project explored gaps and recommended strategies to improve health literacy. It analysed interviews with PHN staff, consumers and clinicians and framed the responses within the broader context of the work of PHNs.