3.3 Health Literacy

Question 1

What is health literacy?

Answer 1

1.Personal health literacy/ individual health literacy
2. Organisational health literacy/ health literacy
responsiveness/ health literacy environment

Question 2

What is the difference between health literacy and occupational health literacy

Answer 2

HL is really about someone’s capacity to understand
health information
OHL is really about how accessible health information
and services are to the community

Question 3

Characteristics that impact HL?

Answer 3

1. Culturally diverse people
2. Education level
3. Income level
4. Multiple chronic conditions
5. Rural populations
6. Social disadvantage

Question 4

Low health literacy is associated with?

Answer 4

1. Poorer health status and health outcomes
2. People being in a health crisis when entering the system, higher
   use of emergency departments
3. Higher hospitalisation rates
4. Lower use of preventative screening services such as pap smears, prostate checks
5. Lower uptake of vaccines
6. Reduced ability to take medications appropriately
7. Reduced ability to interpret labels and health messages
8. Higher cost to healthcare

Question 5

Who is responsible for HL?

Answer 5

1. Government
2. Health organisation
3. Individual staff at all levels

Question 6

What is the commission in charge of HL?

Answer 6

Partnering with Consumers’ Standard
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health
Care

Question 7

What are the 10 attributes of a health literate organisation?

Answer 7

1. Executive leadership for OHL
2. Embed OHL in policies and practices
3. Train the workforce
4. Include patients in every aspects of service design, delivery and
   evaluation
5. Avoid stigmatisation
6. Clear verbal communication
7. Easy to navigate systems, services and facilitates
8. Clear written communication
9. Clear communication in high risk situations
10. Clearly disclose health service costs prior to treatment

Question 8

What is digital health?

Answer 8

Digital health is the field of knowledge
and practice associated with
any aspect of adopting digital technologies
to improve health,
from inception to operation

Question 9

7 domains of digital health literacy?

Answer 9

• Ability to process information
• Engagement in own health
• Ability to actively engage with digital services
• Feel safe and in control
• Motivated to engage with digital services
• Access to digital services that work
• Digital services that suit individual needs

Question 10

The differences between data, information, knowledge, and wisdom?

Answer 10

• Data: fragmented/discreet, raw elements and
  characters
• Information: refined raw data in context
• Knowledge: A collection of useful information about a
  given individual, thing, or situation
• Wisdom: a high level of knowledge and the ability to
  apply this towards a goal(s)