Information inequality and health inequalities: joined at the hip Lorraine Fahy (IPH)

1. Information inequality and health
inequalities: joined at the hip
Lorraine Fahy
Institute of Public Health in Ireland
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2. Inequalities
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3. Health inequality
• The right to health – meaning that governments must generate
conditions in which everyone can be as healthy as possible (WHO)
• Health inequalities unequally distributed in society – social gradient
• Societies that enable all citizens to play a full and useful role in the
social, economic and cultural life of their society will be healthier than
those where people face insecurity, exclusion and deprivation.
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4. Information inequality
• Access to information muted as a fundamental freedom
• Access remains unequally distributed in society
• Leads to limited engagement and participation
• Access to information can strengthen education, training,
empowerment and human development
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5. Relationship between Health and Information Inequalities
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Health /
Social
Inequalities
Information
Inequalities
Open
access
(for all)
▷ Preventable
▷ Unjust
▷ Experienced by certain population groups

6. Working towards meaningful participation
Healthy Ireland
▷ actions designed to empower
individuals and communities to make
healthier choices
▷ Strengthen participation in decision
making for health and wellbeing at
community level.
▷ Address and prioritise health literacy
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Making Life Better
▷ Empower people to make healthier
choices and informed decisions about
their health by improving health
literacy
▷ Improving health literacy – address the
determinants of health

7. Working towards meaningful participation
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Health 2020
▷importance of participation and
responsiveness, with the full engagement of
people
▷Investing in health through a life-course
approach and empowering people
The Solid Facts
▷makes the case for policy action to
strengthen health literacy
▷Strengthening health literacy:
• builds individual and community resilience,
• help address health inequities and
• improve health and wellbeing

8. “
“Data! Data! Data!
I can’t make bricks without
clay.”
Sherlock Holmes
The Adventure of the Copper Beeches
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Information, information, information…

9. • Empower people to contribute to society
• Encourage lifelong self-learning
• Spur continued research and innovation
• Assist with linking the evidence base
• Improve health literacy
• More knowledge leads to better outcomes
How OA might contribute to Information Equality
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10. ▷ Non-academic sector
▷ Community & Voluntary sector
▷ Health and Social Care services
▷ Organisations with restricted library services
▷ Disadvantaged groups
Who might benefit from Open Access
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11. ▷ Issue of ‘Technocracy’ – technical elite
▷ Only technological savvy persons will benefit
▷ OA initiatives could increase information inequality
Therefore increasing health inequalities
▷ Need to ensure OA initiatives benefit all
▷ OA initiatives recognise unequal access and help to
target those with reduced access
Cautions………
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12. ▷ ...if want to effect social change
▷ Build capacity such as training
e.g. awareness and education for behaviour change
▷ Knowledge mobilisation/translation
use and understand messages; contextualise it; then use
Beyond access…
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13. IPH Open Access Policy
▷IPH believes that current unequal access to
information, contributes to existing social and health
inequalities
▷Making information more broadly available will make a
significant contribution to tackling inequalities
www.publichealth.ie/site-page/iph-open-access-policy
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14. ▷ IPH Corporate website
www.publichealth.ie
▷ The Health Well
www.thehealthwell.info
• Exploratory tools
o IPH Community Profiles Tool
• All Ireland Public Health Repository
http://repository.thehealthwell.info/
How IPH implements Open Access
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15. Open access – helping to “Close the gap”
Improving equal access
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16. Thank you
Any questions?
Email : lorraine.fahy@publichealth.ie
Web: www.publichealth.ie
www.thehealthwell.info
www.twitter.com/publichealthie
www.twitter.com/thehealthwell
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19. Working towards meaningful participation
Healthy Ireland
Theme 3 – Empowering People And Communities
▷ actions designed to empower individuals and
communities to make healthier choices
▷ Address and prioritise health literacy in developing
future policy, educational and information
interventions
▷ Strengthen participation in decision making for health
and wellbeing at community level.
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20. Working towards meaningful participation
Making Life Better
▷People Are Better Informed About Health Matters
▷Health literacy empowers people to make healthier
choices, decide to change their lifestyle and take action
▷health literacy as a set of individual capacities that
allow the individual to acquire and use new information.
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21. Is access to information a human right?
WHO
▷Health literacy: The solid facts
▷Health literacy – a key determinant of health
▷Health 2020, the European health policy framework
adopted by Member States in 2012
▷Strengthening health literacy has been shown to build
individual and community resilience, help address
health inequities and improve health and well-being.
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22. Joined at the hip…
Some things are just inseparable…
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23. Is access to information a human right?
▷ Information inequality  limited engagement and
participation
▷ Unequal access  unequal dialogue
▷ Non-meaningful participation in dialogue and health &
wellbeing
▷ Health literacy  empowers people to make healthier
choices
▷ Weak health literacy  further reinforce existing
inequalities
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