Health Literacy and the power of patient-centred communications 

In the UK, 7.1 million adults read and write at or below the level of a nine-year-old. Four out of 10 adults do not understand written health information.[1]

For people creating health-related content, there is plenty of guidance on health-literate word choices, sentence construction, format, pitch and accessibility. Software can generate metrics on readability and identify hard-to-understand words.

Accessible health information supports better decision-making, helps people feel comfortable enough to ask questions and seek support and can improve outcomes and management of chronic illness.[2]

Devising successful health campaigns

But how do you get to the point of delivery? What is really going to drive the change you need, improve patient outcomes and make a meaningful difference?

How do you craft a campaign that lands the right message, with the right resources, in the right format, at the right time and place for the patient?

Successful health literacy campaigns are rooted in layers of insight. The germ of an idea tested against the dog-legs, chicanes and u-turns of the patient journey. Inspected by a team of behaviour specialists, medical writers, designers, creatives, consumer strategists and media planners who bring together their expertise to craft a campaign that drives change and encourages action.

Understanding how people consume media, how and where they live their lives, matters. Understanding how they seek information on medical issues and the extent to which they seek advice –  from friends, from their doctor,  from Google.

Health literacy principles should be the standard. A process that all healthcare material is put through. Knowing where to start begins with exploration – stepping back and understanding more about the person you’re trying to reach.

Devising an effective health literacy campaign: 10 questions to ask

1. What’s the health problem you need to help solve?

• How do limited health literacy skills amplify the problem?

2. Who are the people that are going to benefit most?

3. What hurdle needs overcoming?

• Does public opinion play a part? Could it affect success?

4. Is it emotive?

• Does the topic prompt debate, divide opinion or cause embarrassment?
• Are people struggling in silence for fear of judgement or stigma?

5. What do you know about the people you’re trying to reach?

• What does their condition mean in terms of how they access health information?
• What do their day-to-day lives look like?

6. How do they consume media?

• Where do they look for information?
• How are they informing themselves?

7. What about your audience’s wider influences?

• Who or what influences the decisions they make?

8. What action do you want people to take?

• Symptom recognition?
• Signing up to a product or programme?
• Seeking support or speaking to a healthcare professional?

9. Once they’ve taken that action, what’s next?

• What further resources or support may be needed?

10. How are you measuring the impact of the campaign?

As healthcare communications professionals, the very least expectation we should have of ourselves is to create resources that are understood and delivered in a way that works for the patient.

Otherwise, what’s the point?

^[1] Improving health literacy | Health Education England (hee.nhs.uk),  accessed December 2021

“There is a crisis in adult literacy that directly impacts on people’s health.  In the UK 7.1 million adults read and write at or below the level of a nine-year-old and, critically, 43% of adults do not understand written health information”.