Case scenario

Mrs G, one of your regular customers, has type 2 diabetes and wants to take an active role in managing her health. While in the pharmacy, she asks if you can recommend some online sources for reliable health information that are easy to understand. She confides that she mostly trusts her sister for advice, as her sister is being treated for type 2 diabetes as well. You have always given Mrs G consumer product information leaflets with her prescriptions, and assumed that she understood the information, as she appears to be able to read the labels well. You now suspect she needs some help in interpreting written information. How would you assess her health literacy?

Learning objectives

After successful completion of this CPD activity, pharmacists should be able to:

  • Explain the concept of health literacy
  • Discuss the impact health literacy can have on health outcomes throughout a patient’s life
  • Discuss available health literacy practice tools to assess the health literacy of your patients, the pharmacists and the pharmacy.

Competency Standards addressed (2016): 1.1, 1.4, 1.5, 2.2, 3.1, 3.5

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Introduction

As one of the most accessible health professionals in Australia, pharmacists interact daily with patients and carers about their medicines and health choices. Also inherent in pharma

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