Health Literacy

Digital Resources

• What is Health Literacy, and Why is it Important? (Video)

• The NHS Health Literacy Toolkit provides an information toolkit on health and digital literacy and gives practical tips:

• NHS Medical Document Readability Tool – This helps the writer of the document to check the reading age, average reading time, complex words etc. Just upload the document and get your result.

• National Health Literacy Community of Practice              Knowledge and Library Services (KLS) in the healthcare sector know how crucial good Health Literacy skills are for underpinning patient decision-making and co-creation of care. These skills enable the public (inclusive of all gender, cultural and intellectual backgrounds and abilities) to access and process information in a way which allows them to take ownership of their long-term health and wellbeing.
  
  This site has sections on Accessible and Easy Read Resources, Misinformation, Evidence and articles about health literacy, health literacy tools and sites that can help you and your patients:

• The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) group has a collection of articles on health literacy making the case for improving patient information.
  It also includes tips on how to make sure everyone can understand the information they are given:
  ‘Health Information: Are you Getting your message across?’

• The Patient Information Forum (PIF) TICK website has one-page posters which are free to view and download on topics including false health information warning signs and what to look for in trusted health information:
• They also provide a series of YouTube videos to help the public spot misinformation: See the playlist here.

Health Literacy: Prevalence Estimates for Local Authorities

This tool provides an estimate of the percentage of a local authority population with low health literacy and numeracy or with just low health literacy. It draws on the most recent national survey of literacy and numeracy in England (the 2011 Skills for Life Survey) with a population update based on the 2021 Census and the 2019 Index of Deprivation.

• Independent Age offers advice on managing your health online.  Technology can help you stay active and healthy, manage long-term conditions, book appointments and order prescriptions. This page covers health apps, NHS services, how to find reliable health information and other ways you can manage your health online:

• The World Health Organisation Kahoot! Quiz aims to help people identify the red flags of misinformation:

• The Readable SMOG Index is an influential and popular writing tool. It helps writers write longer pieces of understandable information.  SMOG stands for ‘Simple Measure of Gobbledygook’.
  
  It is a readability framework. It measures how many years of education the average person needs to have to understand a text. It is best for texts of 30 sentences or more. This was the length of text sampled in the creation of the formula for their work for readability and clarity of message:

• The Hemingway AI App makes your writing concise and correct.
  
  The app highlights lengthy, complex sentences and common errors. Subscription may be necessary for some of its advanced tools:

• Easy Health stores over 390 accessible health resources.
  They are made for anyone who finds written information hard to understand (including people with learning disabilities), so they can make decisions about their own lives:
• National Literacy Trust Fake News and Critical Literacy Final Report (2018):

• News Literacy Network: find the right fake news and critical literacy resources. The News Literacy Network aims to empower and equip news consumers of all ages with the confidence, knowledge and skills they need to engage critically with news and current affairs.
  
  Founded in 2018, the network is chaired by the National Literacy Trust and comprises media, education and charitable organisations. Set up initially to help find the most useful resources about fake news and critical literacy, the News Literacy Network has compiled the best resources we could find from a wide range of providers that can help anyone:

• Ofcom – Making Sense of Media:  Ofcom’s programme of work to help improve the media literacy of UK adults and children:

• Full Fact. Full Fact fights bad information.  A team of independent fact checkers and campaigners who find, expose and counter the harm it does.

NHS England E-learning for Healthcare (e-lfh) Health Equity Assessment Tool.   The Office for Health Improvement & Disparities (OHID) has refreshed the Health Equity Assessment Tool (HEAT) developed by Public Health England (PHE) to enable professionals and communities to systematically identify and address health inequalities and equity in their work programmes or services.

This eLearning module (20 mins approx) supports the use of the tool, providing the context and purpose, outlining the benefits of using the tool, and taking the learner step-by-step through each stage of the tool. It also provides a general introduction to health inequalities and equity, as well as examples of good practice:

• Gov.UK Office for Health Improvement and Disparities – Health Equity Assessment Tool (HEAT) Guidance (Updated 2024)
• Resources and e-learning to support systematic action on health inequalities and equalities

UK Safer Internet Centre: The UK Safer Internet Centre (UKSIC), established in 2011, is a leading global partnership helping to make the internet a great and safe place for everyone.
They provide support and services to children and young people, adults facing online harms, and professionals working with children.
A bridge between Government, industry, law enforcement and society, we are the engine of the online protection landscape in the UK, dealing with both prevention and response.

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