Health literacy concerns rise as nearly one-third of working-age adults in Surrey struggle

A council committee report has revealed worrying statistics regarding health literacy among working-age adults in Surrey.

The report, set to be discussed next week at a joint meeting of Surrey’s Health and Wellbeing Board and Integrated Care Partnership, highlights that nearly 30 per cent of adults aged 16 to 65 lack adequate health literacy skills.

This deficiency is termed as a significant barrier to improving healthcare outcomes in Surrey.

Health literacy is defined in the report as a person's ability to access, understand, evaluate, and use health information to make informed decisions about their health and wellbeing.

The report particularly points out Spelthorne as the worst-performing borough, where 37 per cent of adults fall below the health literacy threshold.

Additionally, the challenge becomes more acute, with figures rising to 49 per cent in areas where numeracy skills are needed.

The document notes that this condition results in many adults reading at the level of a nine-year-old, indicating a critical area of concern.

Poor health literacy is closely tied to factors such as educational disadvantages, deprivation, disability, and poorer health outcomes.

It is also linked to increased hospital admissions and higher rates of depression.

In response to these findings, a health-literacy pilot programme, Clearer Care, has been launched to help improve access to health information.

This programme aims to provide expert guidance and small grants to Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations for their health literacy pilots.

Despite its limited scale and funding, the programme hopes to introduce and embed health literacy across Surrey, providing valuable insights for future development and potential scaling.

The joint meeting next week is expected to consider this report in detail and explore ways to address these significant challenges.

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.