Health Sector Workers
People working in the healthcare sector play an important part in improving health literacy by communicating more clearly and making information more accessible to patients.
Research suggests that people with low health literacy:
- make more mistakes with medication or treatment,
- are less able to follow treatment instructions,
- lack the skills needed to negotiate the healthcare system, and
- are more likely to be hospitalised than people with adequate literacy skills.
NALA has developed the following ‘top tips’ for health professionals to follow when communicating with patients:
- Avoid medical jargon – use plain English instead.
- Use images or visual aids where possible.
- Use the ‘teach back method’ – ask the patient to repeat what you have told them in their own words to make sure they understand.