By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    healthcare cybersecurity
    4 Helpful Tips on How to Protect Your Medical Practice Against Cyber Attacks
    October 24, 2021
    Health Check Diagnosis Medical Condition Analysis Concept
    6 Health Woes With Online Remedies
    January 19, 2022
    Eight Things Men Should Know About the Male Menopause
    Eight Things Men Should Know About the Male Menopause
    April 24, 2022
    Latest News
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
    The Wide-Ranging Benefits of Magnesium Supplements
    June 11, 2025
    The Best Home Remedies for Migraines
    June 5, 2025
    The Hidden Impact Of Stress On Your Body’s Alignment And Balance
    May 22, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    How to Start an Adult Discussion on Medicare
    May 26, 2011
    Health Care Reform and Other Health Care Innovations – Regina Herzlinger Speaks From Harvard
    July 7, 2011
    IPAB: Fix It, Don’t Repeal It
    August 9, 2011
    Latest News
    Top HIPAA-Compliant Messaging Apps for Healthcare Teams
    June 25, 2025
    When Healthcare Ends, the Legal Process Begins: What Families Should Know About Probate and Medical Estates
    June 20, 2025
    Preventing Contamination In Healthcare Facilities Starts With Hygiene
    June 15, 2025
    Strengthening Healthcare Systems Through Clinical and Administrative Career Development
    June 13, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: What Defines Someone as Health Literate?
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > eHealth > What Defines Someone as Health Literate?
eHealth

What Defines Someone as Health Literate?

John Worth
Last updated: January 21, 2013 6:26 am
John Worth
Share
5 Min Read
SHARE

Generally speaking, people normally do two things when they are worried about their health or get ill – go to the doctor and go onto Google. They might also discuss the issue with family or neighbours or perhaps a pharmacist.

But their ability to deal with their illness effectively is not purely dependent on their trips to the doctor or onto Google. It will depend on what’s increasingly described as their level of ‘health literacy’.

What defines somebody as health literate?  

Generally speaking, people normally do two things when they are worried about their health or get ill – go to the doctor and go onto Google. They might also discuss the issue with family or neighbours or perhaps a pharmacist.

More Read

social media in healthcare
Ethics of Social Media Success and Instagram Influencers in Healthcare
New FCC Rules Enable Wireless Networks for Patient Monitoring
When Is Social Media Anti-Social?
Sharecare Experts on Twitter Chat – Social Media Networking Event
Healthcare’s Dirty Secret – 15 Million Patient’s Private Information Exposed Since 2009

But their ability to deal with their illness effectively is not purely dependent on their trips to the doctor or onto Google. It will depend on what’s increasingly described as their level of ‘health literacy’.

What defines somebody as health literate?  

I answered a survey on health literacy for the Patient Information Forum (http://www.pifonline.org.uk) yesterday and in presenting my answers, found myself getting increasingly unsettled by the idea that a person can be defined as ‘health literate’ or to have ‘low levels of health literacy’.

When asked in the survey for my understanding of ‘health literacy’, I described it as a level of ability to understand your own health; the information associated to it; the information specific to the condition you’re dealing with; the understanding of choices in relation to dealing with it; the ability to make an informed choice; the ability to act on that choice – quite a line up and all fairly logical.

But as health literacy plays an increasingly important role in person-centred healthcare, how will the support needed to grow peoples’ capability be delivered? And how is health literacy going to be measured? On what basis?

My sense is that supporting people to develop their health literacy skills will need to be highly personalised – and therefore the measurement of ability evermore granulised – so requiring deeper scales to produce data about levels of not just knowledge, but also confidence and an understanding of their personal preferences and all the other stuff that’s going on in their lives.

Without granulising there’s a danger of an over-reliance on generic scales – a person may judge themselves to have a high level of health literacy based on some components of information they are looking for, or are in need of, i.e. symptoms etc, but have low levels of confidence in relation to other information, about their diagnosis, for example.

My feeling is that health literacy cannot only be based simply on whether information is presented in an easy-to-read format, nor can it be solely linked to people’s general levels of literacy and numeracy.

Certainly these are important factors in a person’s ability to address their health, but measuring health literacy will surely involve going deeper and including measurements of confidence and capability in other aspects of life – possibly all areas of life. It’s a science that’s generating a lot of excitement and interest, particularly as the demand for patient involvement and engagement in the co-production of their own health is rising, not simply as a social concern but also an economical (and thus commercial) one. 

Understanding how people use and value information is important as we try to measure people’s ability to safely manage their own health. 

Other critical measurements of health literacy may include their use of social media and the information they pick up through the webs of interactions they make with others who may be experiencing a similar health condition, and what they choose to do with that information.  

There are some excellent patient engagement and health literacy measurement tools available and the work of Judy Hibbard with the Patient Activation Measurement in the US and Richard Osborne with the heiQ in Australia are leading the way on this. 

But mainstreaming such approaches into health systems is a significant challenge. One that requires innovative design and development to sit alongside the measurement science and all the evidence it has produced to date.

Perhaps most importantly this will include other supporting factors such as finding ways to measure the contributions health care professionals and patients make in the shared decision making processes of healthcare.

TAGGED:health literacy
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

women dental care
What Is a Smile Makeover and How Much Does It Cost?
Dental health
June 30, 2025
HIPAA-Compliant Messaging Apps
Top HIPAA-Compliant Messaging Apps for Healthcare Teams
Global Healthcare Policy & Law Technology
June 25, 2025
recovering from injury
Rebuilding After Injury: Path to Physical and Emotional Recovery
News
June 22, 2025
scientist using microscope
When Healthcare Ends, the Legal Process Begins: What Families Should Know About Probate and Medical Estates
Global Healthcare
June 18, 2025

You Might also Like

5 Key Elements of the Peer Review Process

November 13, 2015
Digital Awareness improvement
Social Media

HealthCare Digital Awareness increases in 2011

December 30, 2011
consumer-driven-digital-disruption.png
BusinesseHealthMedical InnovationsMobile HealthTechnology

The Consumer-Driven, Digital Disruption in Healthcare

April 4, 2016

ACA Success Stories Social Media Campaign: Marketing Hit or Miss?

February 2, 2014
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?