Four out of 10 people (39%) in Ireland have inadequate or problematic health literacy according to the first ever European Health Literacy Survey. The survey was carried out by University College Dublin for Ireland and funded by the EU Commission and the Department of Health. 2 Vulnerable groups such as those experiencing long term illness, financial hardship and those from lower-socio-economic groups were seen to have the lowest levels of health literacy. 2 Low levels of health literacy results in poorer health, poor quality of self-care and self management of disease, ineffective use of the health service and a decreased ability to advocate for oneself in the healthcare arena. 2
Health literacy involves a person having the skills to understand basic health information whether they receive it in writing, in person or over the phone. It also involves a person having the knowledge to understand their treatment options and make informed decisions about their own health.
The survey marks the first time that health literacy levels have ever been measured in Ireland. Ireland is not alone in its health literacy problem – nearly every second person (46%) across the participating eight European countries was shown to have low or problematic health literacy. 3
The announcement of the survey results was made at the launch of the fifth annual Crystal Clear MSD Health Literacy Awards, which are designed to recognise and reward excellence in health literacy in the healthcare sector. For more information on the awards and the health literacy survey, visit www.healthliteracy.ie.
Commenting on the results, Dr Gerardine Doyle, Principal Investigator for Ireland, stated: “One of the key findings of the study is that there is a strong relationship between health literacy and education, those with lower education have a lower level of health literacy. 2 This has important implications for the development and integration of health matters in the school curricula from the earliest stages of education. ”

“These results are welcome in that we can now quantify the problem with regard to health literacy, the impact it is having on the health of our population and the need for further education in this area. The results show that over 17% of people have difficulty understanding leaflets that accompany medicines and almost 20% of people would find it difficult to understand what to do in a medical emergency – thus demonstrating that the levels of low health literacy are having a real impact on a day to day basis. 2 Medical care and interacting with the health service is become increasingly complex and this data will further draw the attention of policy makers to the issue of health literacy. I would encourage anyone who would like to improve their health literacy to make contact with their local VEC adult literacy service or NALA at 1800 20 20 65. ” Commented Inez Bailey, Director, National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA).
According to the EU Health Literacy Survey report, at an individual level, the report is advising that low health literacy be addressed by educating the Irish public and increasing their personal health literacy and also by making the tasks and situations involved in the health system less demanding. 2
Also speaking at the launch was Ciara O’Rourke, Director, External Affairs, MSD who added, “Clear communications is critical to help patients make informed decisions about their own health. From the nearly 450 entries we have received into the Crystal Clear MSD Health Literacy Awards since 2007, it is clear that great strides have already been made in this area. I encourage those working in the health sector to enter the 2012 awards and share their Best Practice with colleagues across Ireland”.
The Crystal Clear MSD Health Literacy Awards were developed to recognise and reward the excellent work already being done in the healthcare sector to address the issue of health literacy. The Awards are open to anyone who works in the healthcare sector who is improving health literacy by communicating more clearly and making information and services more accessible to patients. Since the Awards were launched in 2007, nearly 450 entries have been received from GPs, practice managers, consultants, nurses, receptionists, advocacy groups, and pharmacists across Ireland. The closing date for entries is Friday, 27th January 2012. Entries can be made online at www.healthliteracy.ie.

To register, please email healthliteracy@corporatereputations.ie.

Health Literacy Event
Royal College of Physicians, 6 Kildare Street, Dublin 2
Monday, 28 November 2011
Agenda

1.00 – Light lunch

1.30 – Introduction to health literacy in Ireland
Inez Bailey, Director, NALA

1.40 – Results of EU Health Literacy Survey
Dr Gerardine Doyle

2.00 – Why health literacy matters to me
Bridie Daly, former literacy student

2.10 – Benefits of clear communications for patient outcomes
Dr Austin O’Carroll, General Practitioner

2.20 – Temple Street ‐ leading the way in Health literacy
Grainne Dowdall, Temple Street Children’s Hospital

2.30 – MSD commitment to Health Literacy and launch of Crystal Clear Awards
Dr Neil Boyle, Managing Director, MSD

2.40 – Q&A – BREAK

3.00 – Health Literacy training workshops

5.00 – Ends

· The Irish Examiner’s ‘Let’s Talk Suicide’ campaign – The Irish Examiner sought to put a human face on the national crisis that suicide now represents in their ‘Let’s Talk Suicide’ campaign. The campaign booklet focused on interviews with people affected by suicide giving them an opportunity to tell their stories and share their pain, frustration and hope with input from key support groups and associations involved in suicide prevention and suicide advice, support and information.

· The HSE Dublin North East’s ‘Be Active After School Activity Programme’ – This initiative comprises a 30 week structured activity programme which introduces parents and children aged 7-8 years to a variety of activities to sustain positive physical activity habits as children grow up. There are currently 1,200 children participating in the programme with 300 parent leaders and 130 teacher leaders volunteering their time to facilitate the sessions.

· The HSE South Cardiac Rehabilitation Working Group’s ‘Take Heart’ programme – This programme comprises a booklet titled ‘Take Heart’ which is used by patients before, during and after they have a heart operation. The booklet helps patients understand their diagnosis and make appropriate choices regarding their lifestyle following heart surgery.

· The Health Centre, Athenry, Galway’s ear care and ear wax information programme – This programme comprises an information leaflet about ear care which is one of the reasons why people visit a GP or a practice nurse. Using Plain English, the leaflet provides information in an easy to understand and engaging way and following distribution of the leaflet, the practice carried out an audit which showed a reduction in the number of patients coming back for repeat ear related appointments.

Pauline Cooley, Practice Nurse, Health Centre, Athenry, Galway. ‘Thou Shalt Hear’,

Inform Display Systems, GP Waiting Room Brochure Display Service

Edenpark Surgery, ‘Edenhealth Newsletter’

Category B: Best Project in a Hospital

Speech and Language Therapy Department, St Mary’s Hospital, Phoenix Park. ‘Golden Girls Gossip’

The Cardiac Rehabilitation Working Group, HSE- South.  ‘Take Heart- A Guide to Heart Surgery’

Edette O’Dea, Laser Nurse Specialist, Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin. ‘Journey with me’

Susan Brosnan, Mercy University Hospital, Cork. ‘Assessment of patient knowledge regarding an antipyschotic medication’

Category C: Best Project in the Community or in a Social Setting

Irish Osteoporosis Society- ‘Bones’

Irish Heart Foundation. ‘F.A.S.T. Stroke Action Campaign’

Category D: Best Health Promotion Project

The Be Active Team, HSE Dublin North East Health Promotion Department. ‘Be Active After School’ Activity Programme

National Cancer Screening Service (NCSS), CervicalCheck information leaflet

Irish Society for Quality and Safety in Health (ISQH), ‘Let’s Talk Medication Safety’

Category E: Best Health Communication Through Journalism

John O’Mahony, Irish Examiner, ‘Suicide in Ireland’

John McCarthy and Liam O’Brien, Documentary on One, RTE Radio 1, ‘Lives Less Lived’

Siobhan Holliman, The Tuam Herald, ‘Tubby toddlers can mean trouble’

Crystal Clear Synopsis of Shorlist Projects 2011

The awards are open to anyone working in the healthcare arena including medical professionals, academics, public or private organisations, charities, administrators, therapists as well as media reporting on the area.

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