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Health literacy and health information producers
Health literacy describes people’s ability
to make sound health decisions in the
context of everyday life.
4
Low health
literacy compromises people’s ability to
understand their own health needs and
to navigate complex healthcare systems,
with profound consequences for their
health.
Low health literacy represents a very
significant problem and challenge in the UK.
Around 7 million adults (20%) cannot read or
understand simple instructions or labels such
as those found on medicine bottles, while
around half the population would be unlikely
to understand cancer information brochures
routinely used in hospital settings.
5
More recent research regarding women
with breast cancer established that 19% of
those in the study would have been unable
to understand and consequently act on the
written information that they were given.
7
Research published in the BMJ in 2012 found
that a third of older adults in England have
difficulties reading and understanding basic
health related written information. This
poorer understanding is associated with
higher mortality.
8
Low health literacy is closely associated with
significant health inequalities between different
groups in the UK. Health inequalities arise
from a combination of socio-economic factors
experienced by many people living in areas of
deprivation. Consequently, those determinants
of health such as education, employment,
housing, level of income, environment, ethnicity,
not having English as a first language and
gender can impact on people’s ability to both
understand and act on health promotion
messages as well as function effectively in
clinical settings. Some groups are more likely
to be affected by low health literacy, including
people from ethnic minority backgrounds, those
with a low level of educational attainment and/
or who suffer socio-economic deprivation and
older people with multiple health conditions.
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People with low health literacy:
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• have poorer health status
• experience higher rates of hospitalisation and
emergency admissions, and have longer stays
• are less likely to adhere to treatments and
self-care plans
• have more medication and treatment errors
• make less use of preventative services and
more use of unplanned services
• have less knowledge of disease-management
• are less likely to make healthy living choices
• have decreased ability to communicate
with health professionals and participate in
decision-making
• are less able to make appropriate health
decisions
• incur substantially higher health service costs.
As many as 25% of the sample have
literacy skills equivalent to a seven
year old, numeracy skills reported an
even poorer outcome with 53% of
respondents below Level 1 (abilities
similar to a seven year old).
6
National Survey of Adult Basic Skills
in Wales, 2004
Why is health literacy important?
