Canadian Council on Learning | Conseil Canadien sur l'Apprentissage

Prescription for good health found in daily reading, new evidence show

February 20, 2008 Ottawa—The single best predictor of higher levels of health literacy is the act of reading every day—even more so than someone’s education—says a new report released today by the Canadian Council on Learning.

"That reading has such a strong effect is empowering,” says Dr. Paul Cappon, president and CEO of the Canadian Council on Learning (CCL). “It means that we can all make a positive contribution to our own health, and potentially to the state of our health-care system, simply by reading throughout our lives."

Health literacy refers to an individual’s ability to access and interpret information relating to their own health, and their capacity to make well-informed decisions about their health.

In 2007, CCL released initial results from an international literacy survey that showed 60% of Canadians lacked the necessary skills to manage their health and health-care needs adequately.

A Healthy Understanding builds on these results and provides new, in-depth analysis examining the relationship between levels of health literacy and the reported health of Canadians.

The report found:

• Those with the lowest levels of health literacy are more than 2.5 times as likely to report being in poor or fair health as those with the highest levels.
• Across Canada, the prevalence of diabetes increases significantly as health literacy decreases. A similar link—though not as strong—is found with high blood pressure.
• The three most vulnerable populations for low levels of health literacy are seniors, the unemployed, and immigrants (especially those who don't speak French or English).
• Health literacy is more complex than previously thought; requiring prose, document and numeracy skills, often in combination for the same task.

"The diabetes finding underscores how an individual's level of health literacy can affect their ability to self-manage their condition," says Dr. Cappon. "Considering that this illness is now estimated to cost more than $6 billion annually, CCL’s findings suggest that improving health literacy could have significant benefits: both improving the health of Canadians and reducing costs for our health-care system.”

To view the full report and CCL’s new interactive online map, which offers health-literacy profiles for more than 49,000 communities and neighbourhoods across Canada, visit www.ccl-cca.ca/healthliteracy.

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The Canadian Council on Learning is an independent, not-for-profit corporation funded through an agreement with Human Resources and Social Development Canada. Its mandate is to promote and support evidence-based decisions about learning throughout all stages of life, from early childhood through to the senior years.

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