Well-informed patients with good health literacy skills generally exhibit good self-care in managing their health conditions, show better adherence to medicines and are more likely to enjoy good health communication with their healthcare providers. The majority of public sector patients in South Africa are not part of this group and are generally more likely to have lower health literacy skills, are reluctant to ask questions of their healthcare providers and often do not receive supplementary information which then impacts negatively on health behaviours and outcomes. Our research addresses the design and evaluation of health pictograms as a communication tool, the assessment of heath literacy skills using a locally created and validated health literacy test, and aims to improve health literacy by creating accessible health information supplemented with pictograms to enhance comprehension. The research also investigates the complex relationships between literacy, health literacy, education, English language proficiency, and other social factors.

Last Modified: Tue, 12 Oct 2021 02:06:29 SAST