Background

The prevalence of low health literacy across the globe is a growing concern for policymakers and healthcare providers. Improving health literacy has been identified critical pillar to empower individual citizens and enables their engagement in collective health promotion action. This project reports the process in Taiwan’s Health Promotion Administration (HPA) to develop a tangible and realistic national health literacy action plan, identifying the challenges and next steps for implementation.

Methods

The structure of the Action Plan was outlined from an analysis of existing international health literacy action plans. Based on the composition of Taiwan’s system, three key departments (health, education and culture) were identified as the integral government authorities to implement and oversee health literacy activities. With the HPA serving as the lead coordinator, a series of stakeholder consultations were prepared to shape policy priorities and develop evidence-based strategies. Experts were selected based their academic backgrounds, professions and sectors to provide a comprehensive overview of opinions and ideas.

Results

Five key points (evidence, awareness/capabilities, infrastructure, practice and partnership) were initially identified and organized into 108 indicators. The Delphi method was used to reach consensus about what to include in the action plan during inter-departmental expert meetings. In the first draft, a total of seven key pillars were included in the framework with 29 action items. Through a number of seminars and workshops, the Action Plan was disseminated to relevant government departments and stakeholders. The implementation process is being systematically planned, focused on a wide dissemination strategy to assist with practical action.

Conclusions

Through the efforts of the government, health literacy has become an important national policy in Taiwan. The experience to develop the National Health Literacy Action Plan highlights the importance of collaborative, co-creation of policymaking and policy coherence to coordinate and align activities of different stakeholders in different sector. This approach has been feasible for Taiwan and provides the guidance for healthcare providers and receivers to contribute towards a more health-literate society.

Funding

This work was founded by the Health Promotion Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taiwan, R.O.C.