Capacity building for Health Literacy.

Background: Health literacy (HL) is gaining critical importance in health care, public health and health promotion. To successfully address the challenges of limited HL, it is necessary that the public health system has sufficient capacity to do so. This presentation offers an overview of the types of capacity that are needed for a health system to increase HL and to respond to low HL. Methods: Drawing on the integrated public health capacity framework proposed by Aluttis et al. (2014), the capacities that are required to address HL challenges can be construed into seven core domains: (1) knowledge development, (2) a competent workforce, (3) organisational and institutional capacity, (4) partnerships, (5) leadership and governance, (5) financial resources, and (7) adaptation to the country specific context. Results: To respond to problems of low HL, actions are needed in each domain. Knowledge development for HL involves a continued investment in HL research. In terms of workforce development, it involves training health care providers to identify and address low HL. At organisational level, it requires organizing services that make it easier for people to navigate and use them so as to take care of their health. With regard to partnership, collaboration between organisations at local, national and international level creates possibilities to join forces in addressing the HL challenges. Strengthening leadership and governance means that policies for HL must be developed at the local, national and European levels. Finally, an appropriate mix of financial resources must be made available to organisations and community stakeholders working on HL. Conclusions: Strengthening the capacity of a public health system to address the HL challenge requires a combination and integration of actions. This process can be supported by integrating HL as a key issue in public health policies, as well as in educational, social welfare policies at the local, national and international level.