EUPHA’s Strategy highlights that many health challenges we face today are of a global nature and magnitude, which is why the Strategy works towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Since the adoption of health literacy in the European Commission’s ‘Together for Health’ strategy in 2007, health literacy has evolved into an important area of European public health research, practice and policy (REF) contributing to the SDGs.
Health literacy enables people to access, understand, appraise, and apply health information in order to make informed decisions about health care, disease prevention and health promotion (REF). Health literacy is both a cross-cutting topic touching upon many public health areas that are addressed by EUPHA and an interdisciplinary field of research, sharing intersections with various other concepts and approaches within health, education, informatics, behavioral and social sciences (REF). As a concept and practical tool, health literacy has developed into an important public health strategy, exemplified by the many health policies focused on health literacy within European countries (REF) and the inclusion of health literacy as a mandatory component of health education in selected national curricula (REFs).
Recent studies conducted by health literacy research communities, such as M-POHL (REF) and the COVID-HL (REF) networks, demonstrate that low health literacy is associated with adverse health outcomes and reinforces health disparities. In this context health literacy can act as determinant, moderator and mediator of health throughout the life-course (REF). Improving population health literacy is key to improving health behavior, health outcomes and well-being. Investing in health literacy saves money, time and resources. Supporting the health literacy of organizations, institutions and authorities can contribute to user-friendly, person-centred services and environments as well as health information and health communication based on people’s needs (REF).
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that investing in the health literacy of health workers is a key strategy for supporting their interactions with patients and managing their own needs to protect themselves, their families, and their communities (REF). The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated ‘infodemic’ (the questions, concerns, confusion and lack of information which impacts people’s health behaviors) have stressed the societal need for a health-literate health system to build trust within populations, especially in times of crisis (REF). In health emergencies, more than in other times, people are faced with uncertainty, worries and a lack of reliable information, including mis- and disinformation, which collectively can lead to lower adherence to public health and social measures and a lower acceptance of and demand for vaccines, diagnostics and treatments (REF). In this context, health literacy has been shown to be a tool in the management and mitigation of the COVID-19 pandemic and part of the portfolio of longer term strategies to prevent harm from epidemics and infodemics, as well as for building resilience of individuals and communities in the face of future health crises.
