Review article
https://doi.org/10.21860/medflum2023_309431
Health Literacy – How to Move from Words to Action
Ana Gongola
orcid.org/0000-0002-7205-2016
; Sandoz, d.o.o., Hrvatska
*
Jacinta Vuković
; Sandoz, d.o.o., Hrvatska
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
Interest in Health Literacy has surged dramatically, evolving from limited publications during the 1990s to a proliferation of research papers in recent years. A significant milestone in understanding Health Literacy was the 2012 HLS-EU survey conducted by Sorensen and colleagues across 8 EU member states, revealing that a substantial 47% of Europeans possess a low level of Health Literacy. In 2016, Miller et al. demonstrated that Health Literacy and patient adherence can be enhanced by up to 22% through improved information, effective communication, and structured education. As a response to this pressing issue, national policies and programs have been drafted to engage various stakeholders – organizations, professionals, policymakers, communities, individuals, and families – in a collaborative effort to enhance health literacy. At Sandoz we decided to start with the basics: to ensure that our patients receive understandable information from a credible source. This is how the idea of Health Dictionaries was born. The Dictionaries have been developed in collaboration with local medical experts for diseases with the highest morbidity and mortality rates. To date, we have printed and digital versions of dictionaries for all the most common diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, various cancers as well as rare diseases where Health Literacy can have a huge impact on patients and treatment outcomes. At Sandoz, we believe that Health Literacy is a lifelong learning project and an extremely important and current topic that requires a lot of dedicated work at all levels. The Health Dictionaries are just the beginning.
Keywords
education; health dictionaries; health literacy; interpersonal communication; Sandoz; treatment outcomes
Hrčak ID:
309431
URI
Publication date:
1.12.2023.
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