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THE PHARMACIST’S ROLE IN IMPROVING HEALTH LITERACY IN OLDER PEOPLE CPD ACTIVITY 49 Dr Sonal Patel BPharm, GCPH, PhD Sonal is a community pharmacist with experience in research and academia. Her areas of interest include health communication, health literacy, development of patient-centred medicine information and promoting the rational use of medicines. Her current role entails provision of medicines and pharmacy services to numerous aged care facilities. LEARNING OBJECTIVES After completing this CPD activity, pharmacists should be able to: • Describe the concept of health literacy and the impact of limited health literacy on health outcomes in older people. • Outline ways to establish in a pharmacy setting if an individual has limited health literacy. • Describe strategies to support and improve health literacy of older people. 2016 Competency Standards: 2.3, 3.1, 3.2, 3.6. Accreditation Number: A2103RP2. (exp: 28/02/2023). Introduction Health literacy is an important concept which first emerged in the 1970s. Over the past few decades some progress has been made towards understanding the concept and its impact on health outcomes.1 However, increasing evidence indicates a need to further improve health literacy among vulnerable groups,1-4 particularly older people with numerous health conditions.3,4 Pharmacists play an important role in the healthcare continuum as the most accessible healthcare professionals. As a result, pharmacists are well placed to contribute to improving the health literacy of individuals navigating our sometimes complex health system. Defining the concept of health literacy Health literacy refers to how individuals understand health information and use this information to make informed health choices.1,5,6 Several definitions of health literacy have been proposed, with no general consensus over one particular definition.1,5,6 Early definitions predominately focused on an individual’s ability to apply reading and numeracy skills within the healthcare context.6 However, health literacy has since evolved to include an array of skills, including the “ability to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions”.1,5,6 These definitions include not only reading and numeracy skills, but also effective communication (listening, speaking and writing), cognitive and social skills, self- efficacy, and the ability to use technology.1 A more recent approach to understanding health literacy, from the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (2014), is that it exists as two components:1 Individual health literacy – “skills, knowledge, motivation and capacity of a person to access, understand, appraise and apply information to make effective decisions about health and healthcare and take appropriate action”. Health literacy environment – “the infrastructure, policies, processes, materials, people and relationships that make up the health system and have an impact on the way in which people access, understand, appraise and apply health- related information and services”. When developing health literacy interventions, it’s important to consider both components – encouraging individuals to obtain, understand and use relevant health information to make informed health decisions, along with improving capacity of the healthcare system to support and guide individuals with limited health literacy. Impact of limited health literacy on health outcomes in older people The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) reports that limited health literacy is a common problem, with more TO PAGE 50 RETAIL PHARMACY • MAR 2021 1.5 CPD CREDITS