Be part of improving health literacy

Health literacy is defined as “the personal characteristics and social resources needed for individuals and communities to access, understand, appraise and use information and services to make decisions about health”.

Research published in 2015 indicates that 43% of English working age adults do not understand the health information they are given. This rises to 61% when the information contains an element of numeracy. Lower levels of health literacy can have a significant impact on people’s health and wellbeing. It means they may struggle to follow medication instructions, understand health information, manage long term conditions effectively or follow lifestyle advice.

The mission of the Collaborative for Health Literacy is to raise awareness of how such high numbers of people with lower levels of health literacy impacts on health inequalities. The Collaborative aims to raise system and practitioner health literacy awareness, and improve the health literacy of patients, carers and communities in England.

It is currently reviewing its membership and wants to have more voluntary sector input, bringing important views, perspectives and challenges into the Collaborative.

If you are interested in becoming part of the Collaborative, please contact Surfraz Ahmed: [email protected] / 07730 376345