This document summarizes developments in health literacy in Scotland. It discusses defining health literacy as having the confidence, knowledge and skills to access and manage one's own healthcare. It outlines Scotland's ambition to be a health literate society that enables people to live well with any health conditions. Key aims include raising professional awareness of health literacy and promoting tools to improve access to health information. National programs are working to address health literacy needs, especially during care transitions. Challenges include implementation, evaluation and funding. Overall, the document advocates for improving individual and community health literacy through connection of people and health resources.

1. Health Literacy Developments
in Scotland
Blythe Robertson
Scottish Government
Christine Hoy
The ALLIANCE

4. Defining Health Literacy
Confidence, Knowledge,
understanding and skills to
access and collaborate in our own
healthcare and successfully self-
manage

5. Social disability model
We wouldn’t be disabled but for the
systemic barriers that society places
in our way.

6. “We want Scotland to be a health
literate society which enables all of
us to have sufficient confidence,
knowledge, understanding and
skills to live well, on our own terms,
and with any health condition we
may have”
Ambition

8. Aims
• Raise awareness and the capabilities of
professionals
• Promote the development and spread of
existing and new health literacy tools,
innovations and technologies
• Improve access to these tools and
resources
• Cater for health literacy needs at
transitions of care

10. Workforce awareness and
capabilities programme
Leadership, management and team
leaders
• Develop an organisational culture to support
HL
• Address in their rights and inequalities agenda
• Support staff capabilities
Individual Clinical Staff
• Recognise people’s HL needs
• Aware of appropriate resources
• Employ a range of tools

13. National Demonstrator Programme
• Really aimed at supporting the health
literacy needs, information etc to
support people at transitions of care.

14. Challenges and limitations
o Implementation
o Evaluation
o Time and money

16. “Our vision is for a Scotland where people who
are disabled or living with long term conditions
and unpaid carers have a strong voice and
enjoy their right to live well.”

17. • National 3rd sector org
• Strategic intermediary
• 900 members
• Self Management Strategy –
Gaun Yersel (written by people
with long term conditions)

19. 15 min per month
= 3 hours per year
Copyright 2004 FreePhotosBank.com
Individual Health
Literacy

20. Starts with the conversation ……

21. “Medical authors have generally written in a foreign
language; and those who were unequal to the task,
have even valued themselves upon couching .. their
prescriptions, in terms and characters unintelligible to
the rest of mankind
….The cure of disease is doubtless a matter of great
importance; but the preservation of health is of still
greater … It is not to be supposed that men can be
sufficiently upon their guard against diseases, who
are totally ignorant of their causes.”
William Buchan “Domestic Medicine; or a Treatise on
the prevention and cure of diseases by regimen and
simple medicines”,
Chamberlain, 9th ed Dublin 1784

22. “characters unintelligible to the rest of
mankind”

23. Scotland - 26.7 per cent “may face occasional
challenges” Scottish Survey of Adult Literacy August 2010
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pchweat/2331900663/

24. Community Health
Literacy
finding, understanding, using information
• ALISS Health Literacy
• Links Project
• Links Worker Programme
• Improving Links in Primary Care
• and many many more ……..

25. Patient Portal
ALISS
A Local Information System for Scotland
www.aliss.org

26. Information service and
tools
Collect information about
local assets
Manage - tag and
maintain
Share - publish through
multiple outlets - any
computer
What is ALISS?
www.aliss.org

27. “I can read it but I don’t
understand it”

28. Links Project 2011
•10 practices across Scotland
•Four weeks after an initial consultation, 35 out of
131 patients living in deprived areas in Glasgow
were still using a service
•Directories of local resources: hard to keep up to
date, duplication of effort - need for something
like ALISS to connect / share information

29. Improving Links in Primary Care 2014

30. Benefits of asset mappingBenefits of asset mappingBenefits of asset mappingBenefits of asset mapping
There's lots of local
community organisations which we
didn't realise were out there. I
mean there's loads of stuff going
on, whether it is charities or
voluntary work or voluntary
organisations. (GP)

31. Improving Links findings:Improving Links findings:Improving Links findings:Improving Links findings:
The involvement of both
the local and main city librares
provided an excellent forum for
initiating, developing and
improving links between the GP
practice and community
groups.

32. Conclusions
• It’s all about relationships
• Multiple positive benefits when people /
community resources are connected
• People / staff need easy fast access to
local information
• Needs time, support and technology
• Potential for mutual benefit if GP practice/
library pool resources ………..

33. Future developments
•NHS boards have been invited to be a
national health literacy demonstrator
•ALISS is blossoming!
•Growing support for signposting
(social prescribing)
•Librarians are key community asset

34. Thank you