Developing health literacy policy in Scotland: A case study

Abstract

In 2011, the Scottish Government convened a National Health Literacy Action Group (NHLAG) to prioritise actions that would raise awareness of the impact of inadequate health literacy for all parts of the population in Scotland and stimulate a responsive, enabling culture to address the problem. Addressing health literacy requires a societal response, with significant contributions from education systems and communities. However, it also requires a healthcare system that is responsive across people’s entire lifespans. It was to this that NHLAG decided to devote its focus as a starting point. This case study describes the approach, rationale and processes that NHLAG took to formulate Scotland’s health literacy action plan, Making it easy. It describes the key actions that were developed and discusses the progress that has been made to implement these actions and the outputs that have been achieved. While much has been achieved, we also describe the learning that will help inform further progress. The provision of health and social care in the UK is a responsibility devolved to the four nations of England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. There is universal healthcare provision under the National Health Service (NHS) across the UK, although differences exist in the provision of social care. The Scottish Government, through its Healthcare quality strategy (Scottish Government, 2010) and 2020 vision (Scottish Government, 2011), has held a quality ambition for a safe, effective and person-centred healthcare system, along with an integration of health and social care and support for self-management to enable people to live at home or in a homely setting.