EPALE’s monthly focus for December 2017 is health literacy.

When we talk about adult education, health is rarely the first things to come to our minds – we more often think about basic skills or upskilling for the labour market. But adult education can be a powerful tool for improving people’s health and wellbeing.

The European Health Literacy Survey (2013) found that a concerning number of adults in Europe have poor health literacy. Weak health literacy competencies have been shown to result in less healthy choices, poorer health and more hospitalisation.

Here at EPALE we appreciate the importance of health literacy, especially for vulnerable groups like older people, minorities, and people with low income or education levels. EPALE’s teams from across Europe have gathered many interesting blog posts and useful resources on the topic.

Make sure to visit EPALE regularly in December for more new content on health literacy.

Blog posts

• What is health literacy? (EN, LV, NL)
• Interview with Louise Meijering: A participatory approach to research and health literacy (EN)
• Health literacy: Lessons from the EuPati project (EN)
• Strategic Partnership „Roma HEALTH Care“ (DE, EN)
• AcTive—exploiting modern technologies for active and healthy ageing (DE, EN)
• Plain language in health care (NL)
• Clear communication, also in health care (NL)
• #Health - health promotion campaigns in non-formal education (PL)
• Impacts of Low Health Literacy (EN)
• Health literacy: another skill you could measure, or even more? (DE, EN)
• Health literacy for vulnerable target groups: examples from Austria (DE, EN)

Resources

• Take Care Project: Healthcare Language Guide for Migrants – best practices
• Documents related to Diabetes Literacy
• The solid facts: Health literacy
• Roma Health Mediators: Advancing the health and rights of Roma communities
• Health literacy in Europe: comparative results of the European health literacy survey (HLS-EU)
• Health Literacy Review - A guide 2015
• Adult education can improve health systems [EAEA Policy Paper]
• Health Literacy Tips from Canada
• Health as a topic for adult literacy programmes
• Health literacy action: Toolkit for patient educators (US)
• Health and well-being as benefits of adult learning
• Learning for Life: Adult Learning, Mental Health And Wellbeing
• Exploring the links between poor health in the hidden population with low literacy
• From Rhetoric to Reality Health and Education
• Mental Health and Work: Netherlands
• The health and wellbeing benefits of public libraries
• Learning is good for your Health
• Fair Society, Healthy Lives. The Marmot Review: Executive Summary
• Healthier through Literacy
• Evidence for a better understanding of health literacy in the European Union