Executive Director, Health Care Consumers Association Presentation given at "Health Literacy Network: Crossing Disciplines, Bridging Gaps", November 26, 2013. The University of Sydney.

1. Health literacy is about
consumer empowerment
Darlene Cox
Health Care Consumers’ Association
Twitter @darlenecox
darlenecox@hcca.org.au

2. A consumer perspective
Consumers seeking health information have
the skills, knowledge, understanding &
confidence to access information.

3. Consumers have opportunities to build
their skills & capacity and are able to
pass on knowledge and support their
families & friends

4. Consumer led health literacy is about
building personal communication skills and
to know where & when to seek help

7. Health literacy is about our ability
to effectively navigate the health
system and make decisions about
our health and wellbeing.

8. Health care is a social, emotional
and cultural interaction as well as an
exchange of information

13. Barriers to health literacy

14. We need to address the power imbalance

15. We don’t plan to be unwell. It
often happens at unpredictable
times and often results in us
needing to make decisions under
considerable pressure

16. Heath literacy is an important
aspect of informed consent

17. We need to make informed
decisions and understanding risk
is a very important aspect of that

18. Health information and
informed consent

21. Understanding risk

23. Health information is a key to
understanding our symptoms
and conditions

24. Developing an empowerment
model
• Recognising people are experts in their own lives.
• Be aware of and address the social determinants of
health
• Have strategies to address social exclusion &
isolation
• Find out where consumers/patients are at and start
there.
• Challenge yourself & your service to work with
difficult people.

27. We need to be supported to
take risks and some of us
need more support than others

28. Darlene Cox
Executive Director
Health Care Consumers’ Association
darlenecox@hcca.org.au
Twitter @darlenecox
www.hcca.org.au