Health literacy is about people having enough knowledge, understanding, skills and confidence to use health information, to be active partners in their care, and to navigate health and social care systems.
The Community Justice Ayrshire Partnership have worked with partners in our former Health and Justice Oversight Group to produce a short information sheet highlighting links between health literacy and the justice system, and its impact on overall health inequalities.
To help increase practitioner’s skills in this area, NHS Education for Scotland have produced a short e-learning module available on their Turas site, which is available to all. Learners will find out why health literacy is important and how to use some simple techniques to improve how you communicate and check understanding with others.
If you would like to find out more, you can access the e-learning here: https://learn.nes.nhs.scot/26672/health-literacy
Public Health Scotland also have a short e-learning module available which highlights links between health literacy and health inequalities. You can access the module here: http://www.healthscotland.scot/learning-resources/the-link-between-health-literacy-and-health-inequalities
We hope you will find these resources useful and would ask that you share them within your networks.