gms | German Medical Science

Background: Inadequate Health literacy is common among western European populations. In this workshop, we will discuss the concept of Health literacy, how it can be defined and how it impacts health outcomes. Furthermore, we will address the difficulties that patients with inadequate health literacy encounter and how primary health care can be better adjusted to the needs of these patients.

Target audience: Medical doctors, nurses, care providers in general

Didactic method: Three oral presentations and discussion and interaction with the workshop participants

Objectives:

• Present research data on Health literacy in primary care from three western European countries (Germany, Austria and the Netherlands)
• Explore the concept of Health literacy and its impact on health outcomes
• Discuss how primary health care can be better tailored to the needs of patients with inadequate health literacy

Number of participants: 50–70

Short introduction of the workshop chairs:

• Ms. Prof. dr. Jany Rademakers, Professor Health literacy and patient participation, CAPHRI, Maastricht University, the Netherlands Head of research department, Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL), Utrecht, the Netherlands
• Ms. Prof. Dr. med Stephanie Stock, Professor Department of Health Economics and Clinical Epidemiology, University of Cologne, Germany Acting Director, Institute of Health Economics and Clinical Epidemiology (IGKE) Hospital of the University of Cologne, Cologne Institute for Health Economics, Germany
• Dr. Peter Nowak, Leiter der Abteilung Gesundheit und Gesellschaft am Österreichischen Bundesinstitut für Gesundheitswesen (ÖBIG), Wien, Austria