Health literacy – a tool for health promotion

Health literacy is the ability to access, understand, appraise, and apply health information in order to maintain, promote and improve one’s health. People are different and therefore they do not have the same prerequisites to be equally health literate. Health literacy is therefore also linked to inequalities in health.

The Nordic Welfare Centre’s project Health literacy – a tool for health promotion focuses on health literacy as a concept and studies how the Nordic countries work with health literacy, whether that be strategically or practically.

In connection with this project, an informal Nordic network on health literacy has also been established, with participants from the Nordic health authorities.

The project’s target groups include ministries, government agencies, municipalities, and regional authorities.

Results

The report Health literacy in the Nordic countries – Not only a determinant of health, but also a tool for health promotion was published in June 2022, in collaboration with Nordisk samverkan om integration.

The report focuses on health literacy as a concept, and on how health literacy affects health. The report has a particular focus on immigrants and immigrant women, who are at risk of limited health literacy. The report also contains an introduction to how the Nordic countries are working with health literacy, both at national level and exemplified by practical examples.