Overview

The Inner East Primary Care Partnership collaborated with the Outer East PCP and partnered with the Centre for Culture, Ethnicity and Health to support professional development and shared learning to improve health literacy in the EMR to:

• Improve organisational capacity of our partners to incorporate health literacy principles in all the work that they do; and
• Build staff capacity in our partner organisations so that they understand and apply techniques to improve community access to health information and care.

We share information, resources and evidence for best practice through the IEPCP E-Bulletin and online through The Well.

Why is health literacy important?

Low health literacy is associated with:

• higher rates of hospitalisation and emergency care
• higher rates of adverse outcomes generally
• lower uptake of preventative action for better health
• higher costs to the health system
• higher risk of premature death. (ACSQHC, 2014)

Health literacy has two components:

• Individual health literacy (a person’s skills and abilities and how well they can find, understand and act on health information, make health decisions and find and use health services)
• The health literacy environment (the systems, processes, people, information and practices that make up the health and health care industries and sector).

Become involved

Health Literacy Training

The Victorian PCPs have developed the Vic PCP Online Health Literacy Course. This free course is designed to increase the knowledge of health service staff about health literacy, and provide information about improvement strategies that can be completed to improve organisational health literacy responsiveness. The course is suitable for all staff, regardless of their existing knowledge of health literacy. It includes five modules, relevant to different staff roles and responsibilities. You can register for and complete the VicPCP online course here

The Centre for Culture, Ethnicity and Health also offers cultural competence and healthy literacy eLearning, combining latest research with fun, interactive activities.

The Well Health Literacy Portal

Health Literacy has a portal on The Well. Understand the theory and context behind health literacy, learn about the intervention evidence base, add your own project to The Well, and access regional data to support your planning.

Also on The Well are COVID-19 Resources and Tools that can support your work with communities.

You will find a range of health and wellbeing translated information on the Health Translations Directory.

References

ACSQHC. (2014). Health Literacy National Statement. Retrieved from Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care: http://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/publications/health-literacy-national-statement/

Resources: