Charting a health literacy journey--overview and outcomes from a stakeholder workshop

Through a combination of Personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE), Science, Healthy Schools and a range of other initiatives, we are increasingly preparing our children to understand key topics in health education. However, to what extent are we equipping them with a picture of a healthy, happy future and giving them the tools to access this? In June, The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) hosted a workshop entitled "Charting a Health Literacy Journey" to examine this. The workshop brought together a broad group of over 20 stakeholders from the health and education sectors. The aims of the day were to address the following six questions: What is health literacy? What does health literacy look like in action? What are the benefits of health literacy? How is health literacy reflected on the ground at present? How does health literacy fit with the current policy context? What are the options going forward? This report summarises the key findings of the workshop.