At a high level, health literacy is about how people (individuals, families and communities) interact/communicate with the health and care system.
Research tells us that many people, especially those affected by health inequalities, have difficulty finding, understanding and acting on health information.
Our Directors, Gill Rowlands and Jo Protheroe, conducted the research that identified that 43-61% of English adults of working age were below the literacy and numeracy thresholds to understand and use commonly used English health information materials (British Journal of General Practice, 2015).
Of equal importance is how health and care providers help people to find, understand and act on health information.
Improving health literacy for people and for providers will help society at large and communities within it, and it will also benefit the health and care system too.