Supporting people to become active participants in their health and care

Healthwatch Leeds worked in partnership with Leeds City Council (Public Health) and partners to find better ways to support individuals and their carers to understand the health information they receive about their care and treatment. They gathered feedback about people's experience of receiving health information through a short survey with a focus on those groups who experience disproportionately low or inadequate health literacy. Altogether, they spoke to 97 people.

A number of people told us they were not asked about their communication needs or that their preferred communication needs were not met. Over half (58%) of respondents needed help either sometimes or often to understand the health information they had received. Some people felt they could not ask questions at their appointment. People with multiple conditions or complex health problems faced additional barriers when making decisions about their health and care. There was support for the tools, the most popular being 'It's OK to ask'.