LibGuides: NHS: Health Literacy Awareness

Improving health literacy in the NHS

"To achieve the vision of exceptional quality healthcare for all; ensuring equitable access, excellent experience and optimal outcomes, we must address the issue of health literacy gaps."

This 'Improving Health Literacy in the NHS' guide from NHS England/NHS Providers explores what is meant by health literacy, the benefits of applying health literacy interventions, recommendations for trust board members, and case studies from five trusts that have effectively embedded interventions.

Improving Health Literacy in the NHS
This guide explores what is meant by health literacy, the benefits of applying health literacy interventions, recommendations for trust board members, and case studies from five trusts that have effectively embedded interventions.

Health Literacy Toolkit

Health Literacy Toolkit
This 2023 second edition of the Health Literacy Toolkit opens with a general introduction to health literacy and digital health literacy. The main focus of the document is a review of tools and techniques that are freely available

Health Literacy e-learning

Health Literacy e-learning
Did you know that 43% of adults aged 16-65 struggle with text-based health information and that increases to 61% if the information also includes numbers? If you want to know more, and learn how you can help people understand health information better, take this 35 minute e-learning course

Understanding health literacy in your area

Health literacy geodata tool.
NHS England have worked with the University of Southampton to develop an online health literacy geodata tool. By allowing health economists, commissioners and planners to see the levels of health literacy in their area means they are better equipped to tackle health inequalities aligned to other local challenges. By simply putting in your local authority you can see place based data. Try it out to find out what that looks like where you live.

Health Literacy resources

Patient Information Forum: Health literacy matters Infographic
Poster & Checklist - this one-page infographic makes the case for the development of health literate information. The checklist offers some simple tips to make resources more health-literacy friendly.
Health literacy ‘how to’ guide
The purpose of this guide is to describe the practical tools and techniques that practitioners, in a variety of settings, can
implement to enhance approaches and practice in a way that effectively supports people with low levels of health literacy. The guide also contains some wider background to health literacy.
NHS Document Readability Tool
The average reading age of adults in the UK in 9 to 11 years old. The information we write often has a higher reading age than this. This tool helps you write in a simple and clear way for the average UK reading age.
How to use this tool: Copy and paste text that you have written into the tool and make edits. Or start writing something new directly in the tool.

Take a look at the Health Innovation North East and North Cumbria (NENC) NHS Trust's Language of Health video to see how use of complicated language is a problem and how it makes people feel (2025). The video asks members of the public in the community:

What does this word mean to you?
If you got some health information with words in that you didn't understand would that be a problem for you?
How does it make you feel?

The video is 4.41 minutes long.

PowerPoint slides for NHS workshops

Workshops for King's College Hospital Trust staff

Sign-up via the calendar below to attend one of our Health Literacy Awareness workshops or book in a session for your team meeting or training time by filling in the request form below.

Health Literacy Sign-up Workshops

Sign-up sessions running in the next few months are highlighted below. For webinar details and to book a place, click on the session you are interested in and follow the onscreen prompts. All health literacy workshops are currently online using MS Teams. If you have any problems with your booking please contact library@kcl.ac.uk

NHS