01
Find
Locate health information and services that are relevant to your question.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Health Literacy Is a Life Skill
Every day we encounter health information — from teachers, parents, doctors, social media, websites, advertisements, friends, news organizations and artificial intelligence. Health literacy helps us decide what to do with that information.
02
Understand
Make sense of words, numbers, instructions, risks, benefits and choices.
03
Appraise
Ask whether information is trustworthy, current, relevant and supported by evidence.
04
Use
Apply reliable information to decisions, conversations, services and responsible action.
WHO PERSPECTIVE
What Does Health Literacy Mean?
The World Health Organization describes health literacy as the personal knowledge and competencies that develop through everyday activities, social interaction and across generations.
These competencies are shaped by the organizations, systems and resources that allow people to access, understand, appraise and use health information and services.
Health literacy is not simply “knowing health facts.”
It is the ability to participate intelligently and
responsibly in decisions about health.
01
Personal
Skills and confidence to find, understand, evaluate and use information.
02
Professional
Health workers need communication skills that respond to different health-literacy needs.
03
Organizational
Services should make information understandable, accessible and actionable.
04
Systemic
Policies, communication environments and health systems can either enable or create barriers.
THE GHE METHOD
Become a Health-Literate Explorer
Use the same disciplined process whether you are reading a health website, watching a video, hearing advice from someone, or evaluating an AI-generated answer.
01
EXPLORE
What information is available? Who is talking about the issue? What questions do people have?
02
LEARN
Find reliable evidence and learn the essential concepts, terms and numbers.
03
THINK
Compare claims, identify assumptions and ask what evidence supports them.
04
CONNECT
Connect information to people, communities, health systems and social determinants of health.
05
REFLECT
Ask what you know, what you do not know, and whether your conclusion could be wrong.
06
ACT
Use trustworthy information to communicate responsibly and take an appropriate next step.
THINK BEFORE YOU TRUST
Six Questions for Any Health Claim
01
WHO?
Who created or shared this information?
02
WHAT?
What exactly is the claim being made?
03
EVIDENCE?
What evidence supports the claim?
04
CURRENT?
Is the information current enough for this question?
05
BIAS?
Could money, ideology, advertising, fear or another interest influence the message?
06
ACTION?
What action does the information encourage — and is that action appropriate?
DIGITAL HEALTH LITERACY
The Internet Changed the Health Information Environment
Health information can now reach millions of people within minutes. That creates enormous opportunities — but also creates new responsibilities.
Digital health literacy includes the ability to find, understand, evaluate and responsibly use health information in digital environments.
+
Opportunity
Access to high-quality information, services, education and global knowledge.
!
Misinformation
False or inaccurate information can spread quickly, especially when it is emotionally engaging.
?
Uncertainty
Scientific evidence changes. A responsible learner knows when uncertainty remains.
AI
Artificial Intelligence
AI can help organize information, but an AI-generated answer is not automatically accurate or appropriate.
HEALTH LITERACY IN THE AI ERA
Ask AI — But Keep Your Critical Thinking
Generative AI can summarize, explain and help organize information. It can also make mistakes, omit context, reproduce bias or present uncertain information with confidence.
01
Verify
Check important claims against authoritative sources.
02
Compare
Look for agreement or disagreement across credible sources.
03
Contextualize
Ask whether the information actually applies to the population and situation involved.
04
Escalate
For important personal health decisions, involve an appropriate qualified health professional.
CONNECT
Health Literacy From SELF → WORLD
My Decisions
Can I understand and use information about my own health responsibly?
Our Conversations
Can we discuss health information without spreading fear or misinformation?
Shared Knowledge
Can schools and communities make trustworthy health information easier to understand?
Health Systems
Do health services communicate in ways people can understand and use?
Health Equity
Can people everywhere access trustworthy information and meaningful opportunities to act?
SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH
Health Literacy Is Also About Equity
People do not encounter health information under equal conditions.
Language, education, disability, income, geography, culture, discrimination, digital access and trust in institutions can influence whether someone can find, understand and use health information.
Therefore, improving health literacy cannot mean simply telling people to “try harder.” Health systems, schools, governments and organizations also have a responsibility to communicate clearly and reduce unnecessary barriers.
LANGUAGE
ACCESS
CULTURE
TRUST
DIGITAL
INCLUSION
MEASURE
How Can Health Literacy Be Measured?
Researchers use validated instruments to study health literacy. A questionnaire is not the same thing as a diagnosis, and results should be interpreted carefully.
INSTRUMENT 01
MULTIDIMENSIONAL
Health Literacy Questionnaire
HLQ
The HLQ was developed as a multidimensional measure of health-literacy needs and strengths. It examines areas such as access to social support, ability to engage with health professionals, ability to actively manage health, and ability to find and understand health information.
9
domains
44
items
Validated
measure
GHE note:
Use the original instrument and its official
scoring/interpretation guidance rather than copying
or modifying individual items without permission.
View the original validation study →
INSTRUMENT 02
QUICK SCREEN
Newest Vital Sign
NVS
The NVS is a brief health-literacy screening instrument based on interpretation of a nutrition label and related questions. It assesses aspects of reading comprehension and numeracy relevant to health information.
6
questions
~3
minutes
Global
adaptations
Canada:
A Canadian adaptation has been validated in English
and French and studied in Canadian populations.
View the Canadian validation study →
Important research principle:
A school or community project should never label classmates as “healthy,” “unhealthy,” “smart,” “poorly literate,” or “low health literacy” based on a classroom exercise. Validated instruments should be used only with appropriate supervision, consent/assent, privacy protections, and proper interpretation.
GHE EXERCISE 01
Health Information Detective
Learn to distinguish a trustworthy health claim from an attractive but weak one.
Your Mission
- Choose one common health question.
- Find three sources that discuss it.
- Identify who produced each source.
- Record the date and type of evidence.
- Compare the claims.
- Identify at least one uncertainty or limitation.
- Decide which source you would trust most — and explain why.
QUESTION
SOURCE
EVIDENCE
TRUST?
What is the health claim?
Who published it?
What supports it?
Why?
What does another source say?
Is it independent?
Do the findings agree?
What remains uncertain?
GHE EXERCISE 02 · YOUNG RESEARCHERS
Measure Health Literacy in Your Community
With teacher, school-health professional, researcher, or healthcare-provider supervision, students can design a small health-literacy project.
This is a supervised educational research exercise.
Do not collect names, diagnoses, medical histories,
passwords, contact information, or other unnecessary
personal information. Follow your school's research,
privacy and consent requirements.
Define the Question
Example: “How confident are students in finding and evaluating trustworthy health information?”
Choose the Population
For example, one class, a supervised youth group, or another appropriate community sample.
Choose a Tool
With supervision, consider an established instrument such as the HLQ or NVS and follow its official administration requirements.
Protect Participants
Obtain appropriate consent/assent and keep responses private. Collect only what is necessary.
Analyze Carefully
Use simple descriptive statistics such as counts, percentages, means where appropriate, and patterns across groups only when ethically justified.
Do Not Diagnose
A classroom survey is not a clinical assessment and should not be used to label individual participants.
Share Findings
Present aggregate findings using graphs, tables or an infographic without identifying individuals.
Recommend Action
Identify one practical way your school or community could make health information easier to find, understand or use.
Suggested Final Product
Research question → Method → Participants → Findings → Limitations → Equity considerations → Recommendation → Reflection
GHE EXERCISE 03
Make Health Information Easier to Understand
Find a real health information page intended for the public. With your teacher or mentor, examine how easy it is to understand.
01
Circle jargon or technical words.
02
Identify the main message.
03
Look for unclear numbers or probabilities.
04
Check whether the action steps are obvious.
05
Rewrite one section in clearer language.
06
Ask another student to read it and explain the message back to you.
GLOBAL HEALTH
One Concept — Many Regions, Many Contexts
Health literacy is a global issue. Different WHO regions have developed and supported work addressing communication, health information, measurement, digital health and equity.
Global
WHO emphasizes access, understanding, appraisal and use of health information and services, while recognizing organizational and systemic responsibilities.
Americas
PAHO highlights digital health literacy, digital inclusion and the need to avoid widening existing inequalities through digital transformation.
Eastern Mediterranean
WHO EMRO connects health education, health promotion, communication and community capacity with stronger health literacy.
Africa
WHO AFRO has supported population health-literacy measurement, including a national health-literacy survey in Liberia.
Europe
WHO/Europe's M-POHL network supports international measurement and improvement of population and organizational health literacy.
EXPLORE FURTHER
Universities & Open Learning
Health literacy is studied across public health, health systems, education, communication, digital health and implementation science.
USA
Harvard T.H. Chan
Health Literacy Studies and resources developed through Harvard's public-health research tradition.
Explore → UKLondon School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Global public-health research spanning health systems, communication, equity and population health.
Explore → CANADAUniversity of Toronto
Public-health education and research including health literacy, digital health and knowledge translation.
Explore → OPEN EDUCATIONNextGenU
Free health-science education across public health, medicine, nursing and community health.
Explore → USAJohns Hopkins
Patient education and health-literacy work emphasizing clear, accessible and actionable health information.
Explore →SDGs
Health Literacy Supports the Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 3
Good Health & Well-Being
Better understanding and use of health information can support prevention, care and health promotion.
SDG 4
Quality Education
Health literacy is an important part of lifelong learning and education for health.
SDG 10
Reduced Inequalities
Health-literacy interventions can help identify and reduce information and access barriers.
SDG 16
Strong Institutions
Trustworthy public communication and transparent institutions support informed participation.
GLOBAL LEADERSHIP & EVIDENCE
A Health-Literate Leader Does More Than Know the Answer
A health-literate leader asks better questions, evaluates evidence, communicates uncertainty, listens to communities, recognizes inequity and helps others make informed choices.
EVIDENCE
CURIOSITY
HUMILITY
EQUITY
COMMUNICATION
RESPONSIBILITY
KNOWLEDGE CHECK
Health Literacy Challenge
Test your understanding. Choose the best answer for each question, then check the answer key at the bottom.
1. Which sequence best reflects the WHO approach to health literacy?
2. Which statement is most accurate?
3. Which question is most useful when evaluating an online health claim?
4. What is misinformation?
5. Why should an AI-generated health answer be checked?
6. Which is an example of organizational health literacy?
7. What is the main purpose of a validated health-literacy questionnaire?
8. Which instrument uses a nutrition label and six associated questions?
9. Why is health literacy an equity issue?
10. Which is the best approach when two credible sources disagree?
11. Which action best demonstrates health literacy?
12. What should a student avoid when conducting a supervised health-literacy project?
Answer Key
1-B · 2-C · 3-C · 4-B · 5-C · 6-A · 7-B · 8-B · 9-B · 10-C · 11-B · 12-D
REFLECT
Ask Yourself
01
Where do I usually get health information?
02
How do I decide whether a source is trustworthy?
03
Can I explain a health claim without exaggerating it?
04
Do I know when I should ask a qualified professional?
05
How might language or digital access affect someone else's ability to use health information?
06
What could I do to make health information easier for someone in my community to understand?
ACT
Become the Person Who Checks Before Sharing
Choose one health claim you recently encountered online. Trace it back to its original source, compare it with at least one authoritative source, identify what is known and uncertain, and decide whether it deserves to be shared.
Think Global. Check Evidence. Act Responsibly.
GHE EVIDENCE BASE