Health literacy
Health literacy in Austria
In Austria, there has been so far little support for health consumers and patients to actively participate in their own decision-making processes. Evidence based health information is not readily available (Rásky, Groth 2004). Health literacy and independent health information are still not established on a large scale as a means of empowering patients and their representatives in actively participating in their health care decision making and in shaping health care.
The role of the Women’s Health Center in increasing health literacy
The Women’s Health Center is one of the players having started activities in improving health literacy in Austria. It provides independent patient information via brochures, counseling, leaflets, awareness campaigns, statements, presentations, community outreach and public relations on women’s health issues such as mammography screening, HPV vaccination, cervical cancer screening and pap smears as well as on contraception, hormone treatment or beauty surgery. We aim at providing critical and trustworthy patient-orientated information and capacity building projects to support women and girls in making their decisions. In addition, we identify problems of over-treatment, under-treatment and inappropriate treatment in women´s health care and raise awareness on these issues by lobbying and public relations.
Project: Health Literacy and Competency Training – Knowledge makes you strong and healthy
In cooperation with Bettina Berger, University of Hamburg, Germany, and the Working Group of Ingrid Mühlhauser, we provide a 5-day Advanced Capacity Building Training Program for consumers, patients, counselors and self help group members in Austria. A pilot project tested the training program in the Austrian setting in 2007. After the pilot, we secured funding for three years conducting and adapting the training program for Austria.
Eleven training workshops with more than 150 participants were held until the end of 2010 in collaboration with the University of Hamburg, Germany, financed by the Austrian Ministry of Work, Social Affairs and Consumer Rights. Participants were persons living with chronic diseases, patient representatives, counselors, health professionals and non-medical staff from social insurance and public health institutions.
The health literacy and competency training includes basic skills in patients’ rights and on participation in health system, skills in evidence-based medicine (EbM), critical appraisal of health information, skills for searching evidence-based, independent health information, guidelines and information on shared decision making.
The German Network for Evidence Based Medicine awarded the Special Price for practise implementation to the Women's Health Center, Graz, and the working gruoup Ingrid Mühlhauser and Bettina Berger, University of Hamburg, for its advanced training courses in health competency in Austria.