Summary
Individuals and whānau face a series of demands on their health literacy when navigating their way through the health system. These demands impact on consumers’ ability to access health information, care and services.
Internationally, support is growing for a stronger focus on how health systems, health care providers and practitioners can support people to access care, manage and maintain their own health and wellbeing.
A health literate organisation makes health literacy a priority and integral to quality service improvement. It makes health literacy part of all aspects of its service planning, design, delivery, and performance evaluation.
This guide and the Health literacy reviews section have been developed with input from DHBs, to support health organisations undertake a health literacy review. It draws on international best practise for health literate organisations (the 6 Dimensions) tailored for the New Zealand health setting.
You can download this guide as a practical resource for review groups. You can also use the Health literacy reviews section to hear from DHBs who have undertaken a review and want to share tips from their view.