Building Capacity to Increase
Health Literacy in China
Dr. Ruotao Wang MD, PhD, MSL
Member of CCLH
27 April 2009
Emphasizing Three Issues
• Understand Health Literacy Better
• Education and Health Service Providers are the
Key Stakeholders for Increasing Health Literacy
in Chinese Citizens.
• Personal Communication and Community Based
Outreach Skills are the Most Needed Skills for the
Key Stakeholders in order to Increase and Sustain
Health Literacy of Chinese Citizens .
Understand Health Literacy
Better
• Pre-conditions for Building Health Literacy
• Two Perspectives in Understanding Health
Literacy
• Three Levels in Health Literacy Progress
• Health Literacy is One of the Four
Fundamental Determinants of Health
Pre-conditions for Building
Health Literacy
• Literacy originally means to have capacity of
reading, writing, and arithmetically accounting--basic language and numerical literacy
• General literacy in an information era---capacity
of seeking, understanding, analyzing relevant
information, and then making a proper decision--ethical and social literacy as well as scientific and
technological literacy
• Specific literacy for health---health literacy
Two Perspective in
Understanding Health Literacy
• Clinical Medicine Perspective---
• Public Health Perspective---
Three Levels in Health Literacy
Progress
• Functional--- capacity in compliance with medical
care providers or/and public health workers
• Interactive--- capacity to communicate and discuss
with medical care providers or/and public health
workers
• Critical--- capacity to critically analyze relavent
information and self-efficaciously make a health
related decision
Health Literacy is One of the
Four Determinants of Health
• Four Fundamental Determinants of Health
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Genetic make-up and Natural Environment
Social and Economical Environment
Health Technology and Service System
Individual life-style and health literacy
• Education and Health Service Providers are
the Key Stakeholders for Increasing Health
Literacy in Chinese Citizens
Health Literacy is the Outcome of
Health Education
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•
•
•
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Family Education
School Education
Ethical and Humanistic Education
Rational and Scientific Education
Mass Media Communication
Organizational and Personal Communication
Patients Education and Communication
From Definition To Measurement
• Health literacy could have the universal definition,
but the instrument to measure it might be context
& culture depended.
• Health literacy, by definition, is a living
CAPACITY, rather than a fixed items of
knowledge and behavior, however, when we
actually measure it---CONTENTS dependent.
• Where Health Literacy of
Chinese Citizens Currently
Stands ?
Develop an instrument to measure
Health Literacy in China
• In 2005 a project was implemented for exploring
the evaluation of health literacy in China
• A national wide survey was conducted in 2008 for
evaluation of the level of health literacy in
Chinese citizens----a questionnaire developed
based on Health Literacy 66
• --- Contents Fixed Functional Literacy
Need An Action to Increase Health
Literacy for Chinese Citizens!
• According to the 2005 and 2008 survey,
there is a big gap between what we stand
and where we want to go!
•
• Four components---basic knowledge,
believes/values, behaviors, and skills
Recent Initiatives to Increase
Health Literacy in China
• A book published with a title of Health
Literacy 66---reading materials for Chinese
citizens.
• .
• A national health literacy contests were
carried out to increase the public awareness,
especially among Chinese farmers.
• Personal Communication and Community
Based Outreach Skills are the Most Needed
Skills for the Key Stakeholders in order to
Increase and Sustain health Literacy of
Chinese Citizens
Factors Shaping Health Literacy
in Chinese Population
• Education needs to include health education from
the beginning---from basic literacy to general and
then to specific.
• Mass Media---from raising the awareness to health
agenda setting, from message distribution to
value/believe preference.
• Health Care Services System---Negotiation and
communication with patients and their families.
• Public Health Education--- More Community
based Outreach adapted to specific Socio-Cultural
Context and Environment
Various Stakeholders
• Government leaders and officers
• Educators in schools and other educational
institutes
• Health care providers and health
practitioners
• News Reporters and Public Stars (TV,
Movies…)
• Patients and their families
Multi-sectoral Cooperation in Better
IEC for Advanced Health literacy
• Capacity of evaluating various health
information for its credibility and quality,
analyzing related health risk and benefits in
a complex modern society.
• Capacity of communication and dialogue
among patients, their medical care providers,
and health insurance agency.
• Thanks!