Digital health literacy is foundational to meaningful health system transformation. In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic spurred rapid adoption of digital health technologies and highlighted the necessity of public digital health literacy to support full participation in digitized health systems. As digital care models continue to proliferate post-pandemic, digital health literacy remains increasingly important to managing one’s own health information, making decisions about one’s health, and accessing care.
Recognizing the need for digital health literacy support, during the 9th Global Digital Health Partnership Summit (November 2021), the Clinical and Human Engagement work stream proposed to:
- Quantify information about digital health literacy capabilities and identify priority areas for education
- Compile digital health literacy resources from GDHP member countries
- Capture implementation experiences and develop case studies of results.
Work on this project began with a Digital Health Literacy Survey distributed to GDHP members in early 2022. Based on education priority areas identified in the survey, several digital health literacy resources were considered for further investigation, including resources from Australia, Canada, and Hong Kong. Interviews were held with these countries’ project teams in 2023, and the insights from these conversations guided the development of checklists and considerations for creating digital health literacy resources.
The completed Digital Health Literacy Toolkit is intended for use by anyone seeking to:
- Develop or procure resources to build digital health literacy skills among the general public
- Contextualize their existing digital health literacy work within the international landscape
- Understand the evolving definitions, impacts, and implications of digital health literacy.
Technology and digital health literacy have both changed significantly over the last 20 years. As health system change accelerates, the need to support the public’s digital health literacy is becoming more urgent – especially as managing data becomes an integral part of managing one’s health. In the dynamic interplay between people and technology, we hope this toolkit can serve as a starting point to unique journeys.