This guide will help you to carry out a health literacy review and build a health-literate organisation.

The guide provides advice on how to prepare for a health literacy review and gives you templates and examples of tools to adapt for your review. It also has background information on health-literate organisations and health literacy.

In New Zealand, health literacy has been defined as ‘the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information and services in order to make informed and appropriate health decisions’ (Ministry of Health 2010). In this definition the focus is most obviously on consumer capability. However, internationally support is growing for a stronger focus on how health systems, health care providers and practitioners can support consumers to access and understand health services.

If your organisation is new to the idea of health literacy, building awareness and understanding of it is a critical first step.