Bridging the gap between
patient health literacy and
professional practice
Dr Shandell Elmer
Senior Lecturer
School of Health Sciences, University of Tasmania
Di Webb
Policy & Planning Officer , Population Health Equity Unit
Walk you through….
 What is health literacy?
 What we learnt
 What we did
 What we found
 What’s next
 What’s different about this approach?
Health literacy….
Individual Health Literacy
• Being able to understand
and take the right action to
make good health choices
Health Literacy Environment
• The health system’s
Infrastructure, policies,
processes and relationships
that make it easier or more
difficult to understand
health information and take
appropriate action
What affects health literacy?
Individual
Health
Literacy
•
•
•
•
Health
Service
Providers
Health
Service
Education
Age
Culture
Trauma
• Communication
• Interpersonal
skills
• Systems
• Environment
• Support
What we learnt…
Using workplace audit tools provided:
•An effective way for health professionals to learn
about health literacy and the health literacy
environment; and
•The opportunity to change systems.
What we did…
• Adapted 5 health literacy
workplace audit tools;
• Investigated health literacy
knowledge, experience and
skills; and
• Provided training and
support for health
professionals to assess their
own services using the
health literacy workplace
audit tools.
What we found…
 We need to design resources and learning experiences
based on their existing understanding and skills.
 Giving people the experience helps create the knowledge
 Works across professions and encourages critical
reflection about the system.
What’s next…
• Tas Medicare Local funded Health Literacy Project
• “Strengthening self-efficacy and competency for practitioners”
• Partnership between Population Health (DHHS) and School of Health
Sciences (UTAS)
Aims to support and strengthen the health and community sector
workforce to include health literacy considerations into their daily
work practice to improve Tasmanian’s access to health information by:
• Raising awareness of health literacy and its impact on health outcomes
• Providing practical tools (job aids) and resources
• Supporting workforce and organisational capacity
What’s different about this approach?
• Focuses on the addressing “the gap” through
action
• Acknowledges the importance of the whole
system
• Participatory
• Practical
• Capacity building
Bridging the gap between patient health
literacy and professional practice
Contact us:
Diane Webb
Policy & Planning Officer
Population Health Services
Department of Health and
Human Services
Level 1 93 York Street
Launceston TAS 7250
Phone (03) 6336 2405
dianne.webb@dhhs.tas.gov.au
Dr Shandell Elmer
Senior Lecturer
School of Health Sciences
Newnham
University of Tasmania,
Locked Bag 1322,
Launceston TAS 7250
Phone (03) 6324 3317
Shandell.Elmer@utas.edu.au