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Design of user friendly health systems

Transcript

Intro:

A digital health platform has so many opportunities to actually bring health to people.

 

Why is digital health literacy becoming increasingly important?

Health literacy is two-sided. On one hand we talk about the health literacy of the public, of people. The other side is about the health literacy responsiveness of systems. So how do we design systems to be health literacy friendly? And when we talk about digital health literacy, we are challenged. Because we see that there are so many barriers for people to find information on social media, on websites and so forth. Many public websites are not designed very user friendly. And it means that people can get lost. It’s important that we recognize that healthcare systems have a say in how we design systems and the way we can help people to gain digital health literacy.

 

How can health literacy be promoted?

Healthcare systems play an important role in increasing health literacy of people. It’s important to create a leadership, ownership, management buy-in to implement health literacy as a strategic approach in organisations. Healthcare systems are also important in terms of setting guidelines and standards for use of data, for example. So it’s important to create a good framework for privacy and data security.

 

How can we create a health literate future?

I believe the future is health literate. I believe we all have a responsibility to design healthcare systems that are conducive and empower people to take care of their health and well-being. It’s a responsibility of all of us, whether you work in the healthcare sector or beyond the healthcare sector. So it means for the healthcare staff, but also those outside, so meaning teachers, coaches, decision makers, policy makers, journalists: We all have a responsibility and we can all make that difference of making the future health literate.

Content

Dr. Kristine Sørensen, President of the International Health Literacy Association, advocates for more people to gain better digital health literacy. To achieve this, she believes that health systems have a responsibility to become more user-friendly. In this video, the health literacy expert outlines the framework for health systems that aim to empower people to take responsibility for their health and well-being.

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    Creating resilience against desinformation

    Transcript

    Intro:

    We need to be much more critical about what we read and hear in the news and on social media.

     

    What is health literacy?

    Health literacy is a rather new term in the health field. It entails the knowledge and motivation and competencies to find and understand and judge and use information to take decisions in everyday life. So when we are ill, when we are talking about risk factors like tobacco or smoking, when we are trying to stay healthy. But it’s also about how to navigate the healthcare system.

     

    Why is health literacy so important?

    Health literacy is important because those that have the knowledge and motivation and competencies to take care of themselves, they also do well, live better lives, use healthcare systems less. And when we have the skills with regard to health literacy, we are also empowered and we are able to trust ourselves when we deal with information and distinguishing whether this is now true or whether it’s fake news. So in the opposite, if you’re less skilled, it might be difficult and too complex to manage your health and navigate and find your way in the healthcare system. And that can have a detrimental impact. You go often to the hospital, you’re not joining screening systems, you may not know how to eat well.

     

    What does research say about health literacy?

    We know from European health literacy surveys that on average one in two face difficulties in terms of finding and understanding and using information to take action. It means that it’s not only a small proportion of people that are having difficulties, it’s actually a public health challenge that we need to tackle.

     

    Why do so many people struggle with health information?

    During the pandemic we saw how difficult it was for people to deal with health information. We need to be much more critical about what we read and hear in the news and on social media. We know that we are also faced with myths, conspiracies and people need to be able to understand what is fake news. However, we are also very challenged because sometimes fake news comes also from people we actually trust. And this is a challenging time when health is dealt with all over in the news and in social media.

     

    How can we tackle this problem?

    We can teach health literacy and digital health literacy in schools. We can ask journalists to have a more prominent role in how health is being presented in news. We can ask leadership in companies, in public and private sectors to deal with health literacy at work, because health literacy is relevant for all of us. And we need to make sure that we have access to credible information and timely information and relevant information. And a way to do that can be to establish a health data platform. So a digital health platform has so many opportunities to actually bring health to people.

    Content

    Those who want to inform themselves about health topics often feel lost in the jungle of information. According to surveys, many people do not have the necessary health literacy to distinguish fake news from trustworthy information. In this video, Dr. Kristine Sørensen, President of the International Health Literacy Association, explains why health literacy is important and how a national health platform can contribute to improving health literacy.

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    Your feedback is important to us

    To contact our project team, please use our form. We look forward to your message and will get back to you as soon as possible.