The contribution of health literacy to patient safetyhph.mhil.at/fileadmin/user_upload/IC2014_Barcelona/Plen2_Kluge.pdf · 22nd International HPH Conference– Changing hospital and

Careum Congress 2014 – The power of patients 3.0 Basel, 17-18 March 2014

The contribution

of health literacy

to patient safety

Dr Hans Kluge Director, Division of Health Systems

and Public Health Regional Director’s Special Representative

for M/XDR-TB

WHO Regional Office for Europe

22nd International HPH Conference Changing hospital and health service culture to better promote health

Barcelona, April 2014

22nd International HPH Conference– Changing hospital and health service culture to better promote health


The changing health landscape

• The global health architecture has become more complex

• Globally and regionally health has improved, yet deep inequities remain

• Health challenges are multi-faceted

People live

longer and have

less children.

People migrate,

cities grow

bigger.

Health systems

face rising costs.

Primary health

care is weak and

lacks preventive

services.

Infectious

diseases, such as

HIV, tuberculosis

remain a

challenge to

control.

Antibiotic-

resistant germs are emerging.

Non-

communicable

diseases

dominate.

Depression and

heart disease are

leading causes to

life years lost.



General: human rights documents, recommendations, treaties, charters

CoE: Warsaw Statement 2005; Rec 2006/7 on the management of patient safety and prevention of adverse events in health care

EU: Luxembourg Declaration 2005; Council Communication 2008, Council Recommendation 2009 on patient safety, including the prevention and control of healthcare associated infections; Report on implementation 2012, Joint action for patient safety-PASQ

WHO: Quality of care: patient safety WHA55.18, 2002; London Declaration, 2006; Tallinn Charter 2008/2013/2015; Health 2020

Patient safety & roles



5 May 2014

Role of hand hygiene to combat antimicrobial

resistance

Register your healthcare facility at http://www.who.int/gpsc/5may/register/en/index.html

http://www.who.int/gpsc/5may/register/en/index.html



Patient Safety and patient empowerment

WHO’s view is that promotion of

patient safety is connected to the

development of consumer

empowerment and patient

involvement and participation and

that patients should become active

partners in improving the safety,

quality and efficiency of health

service delivery.



Patient participation: factors influencing

patient participation in preventing errors

Health Care Worker Patient/ consumer Famillies/ populations

Shared responsibility

Effective communication Education to health

Feedback

The health care worker and patient team-up appears to be a prerequisite for

better health outcomes, fostering adherence to healthy life styles, feasibility of

guided self management of chronic conditions, compliance to treatment and

reduction of health care related adverse events



Health Literacy: People’s ability to access,

understand, appraise and use information to

improve their health

Source: HLS-EU CONSORTIUM (2012); HTTP://WWW.HEALTH-LITERACY.EU

• The survey has measured how people

access, understand, appraise and apply

information to make decisions in terms of

health care, disease prevention and health

promotion.

• The HLS-EU consortium has chosen a

citizen empowerment approach when

measuring health literacy in the general

population which includes perspectives on

how health literacy affects quality of life

during the life course.



Health Literacy in Europe, some results



Engaging health literate patients in safety

Safety management – Human factors

– Organizational factors

– Monitoring & learning

– Communities of practice

Patient empowerment – Self management

– Professional interaction

– Education to health

– Communities of learning

Education to health and patient safety

Patient safety engagement & improvement

Networks for learning



Health systems strengthening towards people-

centredness in the context of Health 2020

Strategic objective 1: Improving health for all &reducing health inequalities

Strategic objective 2: Improving leadership & participatory governance for health

People enabled and supported in achieving their

full health potential and well-being

Strengthening

people-centred

health systems

and public

health capacity



Public and Patient Empowerment (PPE)

within Health 2020

Patient empowerment and patient rights are key elements in the

two strategic objectives and four policy priorities of Health 2020

Focus on positive health and wellbeing - consider not only

patients, but also healthy people.

Consider ‘population continuum’: throughout the life course

people can be healthy, unhealthy; form families and be carers,

build communities and societies

Consider ‘process continuum’:

Public and Patient Involvement

Informed participation Empowerment



eHealth and innovation for patient

empowerment



Working with partners

• Provide structures and resources that empower

the people in the European Region: – To make use of their own assets

– To be active participants in shaping health policy

– To respond to health challenges through improved

health literacy

– To ensure their voice is heard in system (re-)design

towards improved person-centredness

– To participate fully in family and community life



Universal Health Coverage (UHC): How will

we get there?

Aligned health workforce Aligned health workforce

Financial Protection

PHC at the centre of care

Coordinated PHC & PHS

Revitalized multi-skilled health workforce

Strategic use of modern tech and medicines

Promoting stronger and more modern people-centred health systems, with enhanced health literacy competencies enabling communication, coordination and better health preservation along the life continuum



Patients and consumers who choose

to partner with health-care policy

makers and providers are highly

knowledgeable, motivated and eager

to contribute. They challenge health

care to be truly patient-centred and to

partner to help make care better.

Margaret Murphy,

Patient safety

advocate

Careum Congress 2014 – The power of patients 3.0 Basel, 17-18 March 2014

THANK YOU http://www.euro.who.int/en/health

-topics/Health-systems

Documents

The contribution of health literacy to patient safetyhph.mhil.at/fileadmin/user_upload/IC2014_Barcelona/Plen2_Kluge.pdf · 22nd International HPH Conference– Changing hospital and