How can we improve health literacy in Australia?

By Carissa Bonner and Melody Taba

Up to 60% of Australians have low health literacy, which is associated with poor health outcomes. To improve health literacy, there are many ways we could provide better support for health professionals and the communities they serve.

Health literacy means being able to access, understand, appraise and act on health information. Up to 60% of Australians have low health literacy, which is associated with poor health outcomes. This is because the current health care environment does not meet their needs — leading to less knowledge about health conditions, poor risk factor control, lower adherence to recommended management, greater hospitalisations and higher mortality rates.

To address this, our health care system must change to be responsive to health literacy needs. There are many ways we can provide better health literacy support for health professionals and the communities they serve. In this article, we explore two case studies for different target populations: heart disease prevention in primary care for middle-aged to older adults; and COVID-19 prevention messaging for young people in the community.