Preface

Health Literacy in a Nutshell is for students and frontline practitioners who want to improve their understanding of health literacy and to be better at health communication. Health education and public communication campaigns have always been an essential element of public health interventions and an important tool for prevention and health promotion. In the clinic, patient education has evolved considerably over past decades as patients and consumers have become essential partners in healthcare.

We know from practical experience that not everyone responds in the same way and with equal success to our health communications. There are many reasons why this is the case. Our communication methods may not be as good as we would wish and the media we use may not fit with individual preferences and patterns of media use. People can find the systems we operate within to be complex and confusing, especially in healthcare. The medical language we use routinely can be intimidating and alienating. We also know that people vary considerably in their skills, capacity and motivation to respond to our communications, and this can be compounded by the social and economic conditions that people experience.

Health Literacy in a Nutshell will help you understand how to be a better communicator and how to work more effectively with individuals and communities in helping them to find, understand, appraise and apply health information. It does so by exploring the concept of health literacy from multiple perspectives, beginning with a chapter exploring the concept and definition of health literacy. This is followed by chapters examining practical methods for working with patients, communities and organisations to improve health communications in ways that support people to take practical actions to improve and protect their health. The book also provides useful advice on the best ways to make use of digital media for health communication and for improving eHealth literacy, concluding with a chapter on health literacy, equity and the social determinants of health.

Health Literacy in a Nutshell provides pragmatic advice and guidance. It draws upon the best available scientific evidence and provides numerous practical examples of effective communication to improve health literacy among our patient and community populations. Each chapter includes helpful case studies, key references and advice on further reading. Even for experienced researchers and practitioners, the book provides a useful prompt on key issues, as well as guidance on how to organise and deliver interventions to improve health literacy.