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’ (World Health Organization, 2015).

In England, 43% adults find it hard to understand written health information, rising to 61% struggling once numbers are added (Rowlands, 2015).
The estimated prevalence of low health literacy in Croydon is 48.18 %
The estimated prevalence of low health literacy and health numeracy in Croydon is 68.93This is higher than the national average.

There is a responsibility on organisations to support accessibility, such as through improved signage, as well as enabling individuals to develop skills.

Library and knowledge specialists are ideally placed to increase colleagues’ awareness of health literacy. Librarians support information assessment (or information literacy) as a core role. If people question information sources generally, they can apply these skills to health literacy.
We teach simple techniques such as teach back and chunk and check, where to care giver takes on the responsability of the understanding of the patient.

To book a health literacy session please contact the library on chs.libraryenquires@nhs.net

Teach Back

Chunk and check