Health literacy is the ability to interpret and apply health information. Poor health literacy can result in exacerbated inequalities, inappropriate use of medication, and poor health outcomes, and is increasingly an important focus for the NHS.

As one step towards addressing this crucial issue, the Medical Library has developed a new training course, Health Literacy Awareness, which is relevant to all healthcare professionals and students. This course covers details and context of health literacy, raises awareness of its importance for healthcare practitioners, and discusses tools, resources, and techniques that will aid healthcare practitioners in communicating with patients and improving their health literacy.

The first session will take place on 7th February between 3-4pm, and it will be repeated on 3rd March between 12-1pm. After that the course will repeat roughly once a month. University of Cambridge staff and students can book a place directly by logging in with Raven on the bookings website. NHS staff will need to email the training team (librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk), stating the date and time of the course they wish to attend, and we will book a place on their behalf.

We are also very happy to run this session on request at a date, time and location of your choosing for you and your colleagues or students. Please email the library training team to arrange this.