Health literacy resources for clinicians, service providers and managers
HCA has compiled a list of resources produced by various organisations, designed to assist clinicians, service providers and managers to improve consumers’ individual health literacy, and the health literacy environment. A short description of the resource is included under each link.
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) resources
Five new health literacy fact sheets for health services
Released in July 2017, these fact sheets link staff working in quality improvement to a range of tools and examples to help plan improvements to your organisation’s health literacy environment.
Fact sheet 1: An introduction to improving health literacy in your organisation
Fact sheet 2: Making health literacy part of your policies and processes
Fact sheet 3: Making way-finding easier
Fact sheet 4: Writing health information for consumers
Fact sheet 5: Supporting staff to meet health literacy needs
Summary listing of health literacy resources
This webpage provides links to all health literacy documents on the ACSQHC website.
Health literacy for clinicians
A one-page infographic (text and pictures) describing how you can help your patients to better understand their health.
Health Literacy: A summary for Clinicians
An eight-page booklet describing how clinicians can influence, address and improve health literacy.
Health literacy for managers
A one-page infographic describing how to create a good health literacy environment within your organisation.
Health literacy: a summary for Executives and Managers
An eight-page booklet describing the attributes of a healthcare organisation that addresses health literacy.
National statement on health literacy
A four-page statement which highlights possible actions that can be taken by organisations and individuals working in the health sector to address health literacy.
Health Literacy – taking action to improve safety and quality
A detailed paper of 96 pages, which provides a broad overview of health literacy in Australia, and identifies a number of areas and actions required to address health literacy in a coordinated way.
National Safety and Quality Health Service Standard 2 – Partnering with consumers
This webpage provides links to supportive resources developed by the Commission to help healthcare organisations better understand the requirements of Standard 2.
Tip Sheet 8: Health literacy and the NSQHS Standards
A 10-page document summarising actions in the National Safety Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards related to health literacy, and strategies to address them.
Tip Sheet 5: Preparing written information for consumers that is clear, understandable and easy to use
A four-page tip sheet summarising how organisations can work in partnership with consumers to ensure effective written health information that meets consumers’ needs and a number of actions across the NSQHS Standards.
Tip Sheet 6: How to get feedback from consumers on patient information publications
A five-page tip sheet which summarises how to seek out and incorporate consumer views and perspectives about the patient information publications that you develop and distribute to the people who use your service.
SA Health Resources
Guide for engaging with consumers and the community
A sixteen-page guide designed to strengthen and improve the practice of consumer and community engagement processes. It includes examples of the scales and levels of engagement, and practical tools to assist in engaging successfully. The tools related to health literacy are listed separately below.
Tips for communicating clearly – Tools for promoting health literacy: Tool 3
A two-page guide on key communication strategies and requirements for respecting culture and language.
The teach-back method - Tools for promoting health literacy: Tool 4
A one-page guide on how asking what consumers recall, and if they can restate what they have been told, is one of the top consumer safety practices.
Follow-up with consumers - Tools for promoting health literacy: Tool 5
A one-page guide on follow-up with consumers to make sure they obtain, process and understand information about health care, services and the health system.
Encourage questions - Tools for promoting health literacy: Tool 6
A two-page guide with questions to help consumers obtain, process and understand information about health care, services and the health system.
Assessing readability – Tools for promoting health literacy: Tool 7
A one-page guide on consumer feedback and readability formula.
Writing health information - Tools for promoting health literacy: Tool 8
A two-page guide and checklist on working with consumers to plan, produce and evaluate health information.
Choosing Wisely Australia resources
5 questions to ask your doctor – factsheet or poster
A one-page tip sheet listing five questions patients can ask of their doctors or other health- care providers before they get any test, treatment or procedure. Available in A4 and poster size.
5 questions to ask your doctor – graphic for waiting room TV systems
As above.
Recommendations of the tests, treatments, and procedures for healthcare providers and consumers to question
On this webpage you will find lists of recommendations by Australia's peak colleges, societies and associations, of the tests, treatments, and procedures that healthcare providers and consumers should question. Each recommendation is based on the best available evidence.
Choosing Wisely Australia resources for colleges, societies and supporters
This webpage contains the Choosing Wisely Australia communication kit. It lists resources such as documents, a PowerPoint presentation and video clips, to provide key messages and tools to assist with communicating about Choosing Wisely Australia.
Choosing Wisely Australia videos
This webpage contains a variety of videos and transcripts, including case studies, interviews about interactions between health professionals and consumers, and the release of college, society and association recommendations in March 2016.
NPS MedicineWise resources
For your patients
This webpage includes a list of resources to help health professionals communicate essential treatment messages to patients. Fact sheets and treatment plans can be printed and given to patients.
Decision tools and resources
On this webpage you will find a variety of decision tools - for both health professionals and patients - that have been developed to provide guidance through your clinical decisions with patients. Some are designed to facilitate discussion with patients; others allow patients to record their symptoms of medicines use, to discuss with you in future consultations.
Healthdirect Australia resources
About healthdirect Symptom checker
This webpage contains a video and text detailing what the healthdirect Symptom checker is, and how it supports GPs and patients, by increasing the health literacy of patients about their situation before attending their GP appointments. On this website you can search by A-Z health topics, or by conditions, symptoms or life stages.
Translated resources / multicultural health resources
The Health Translations Directory
This directory provides direct links to reliable translated resources produced in Australia. It enables professionals to support their culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) patients/consumers to make positive health and lifestyle choices and to improve their health literacy. On this website you can search by topic or language.
Centre for Culture, Ethnicy and Health (CCEH) resources
The CCEH library gives you access to quality resources and validated information about culture, ethnicity, health and wellbeing to help you work better with people from refugee and migrant backgrounds. On this page you will find 10 health literacy resources, including tips for communicating with clients who have low health literacy, using teach-back via an interpreter, and producing a translated resource that is accurate and culturally appropriate.
Other Australian resources
Ophelia resources
Ophelia means Optimizing Health Literacy and Access to health information and services. This website contains resources and information about the Ophelia Approach - it involves the collaboration of a wide range of community members, community leaders, and workers to develop health literacy interventions that are based on needs identified within a community.
North Western Melbourne PHN resources
This page by the North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network (PHN) includes links to a variety of health literacy resources for health professionals. It includes an overview of health literacy; guides and tools to use in your practice to address health literacy; techniques to improve communication and patient empowerment; how to access and work with interpreters; and information on culturally-sensitive care.
Tasmanian Government - Department of Health and Human Services resources
On this page you will find a comprehensive Communication and Health Literacy Workplace Toolkit. It provides information and practical tools on topics in six main sections: spoken communication, written communication, improving the health literacy environment of health care facilities, people with additional communication needs, improving health literacy, and workplace assessment tools. You will also find links to Health Literacy in Practice, including a range of videos, and to further resources.