Information inequality and health

inequalities: joined at the hip

Lorraine Fahy

Institute of Public Health in Ireland

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Inequalities

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Health inequality

• The right to health – meaning that governments must generate

conditions in which everyone can be as healthy as possible (WHO)

• Health inequalities unequally distributed in society – social gradient

• Societies that enable all citizens to play a full and useful role in the

social, economic and cultural life of their society will be healthier than

those where people face insecurity, exclusion and deprivation.

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Information inequality

• Access to information muted as a fundamental freedom

• Access remains unequally distributed in society

• Leads to limited engagement and participation

• Access to information can strengthen education, training,

empowerment and human development

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Relationship between Health and Information Inequalities

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Health / Social

Inequalities

Information Inequalities

Open access (for all)

▷ Preventable

▷ Unjust

▷ Experienced by certain population groups

Working towards meaningful participation

Healthy Ireland

▷ actions designed to empower

individuals and communities to make

healthier choices

▷ Strengthen participation in decision

making for health and wellbeing at

community level.

▷ Address and prioritise health literacy

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Making Life Better

▷ Empower people to make healthier

choices and informed decisions about

their health by improving health

literacy

▷ Improving health literacy – address the

determinants of health

Working towards meaningful participation

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Health 2020

▷importance of participation and

responsiveness, with the full engagement of

people

▷Investing in health through a life-course

approach and empowering people

The Solid Facts

▷makes the case for policy action to

strengthen health literacy

▷Strengthening health literacy:

• builds individual and community resilience,

• help address health inequities and

• improve health and wellbeing

“ “Data! Data! Data!

I can’t make bricks without

clay.”

Sherlock Holmes

The Adventure of the Copper Beeches

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Information, information, information…

• Empower people to contribute to society

• Encourage lifelong self-learning

• Spur continued research and innovation

• Assist with linking the evidence base

• Improve health literacy

• More knowledge leads to better outcomes

How OA might contribute to Information Equality

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▷ Non-academic sector

▷ Community & Voluntary sector

▷ Health and Social Care services

▷ Organisations with restricted library services

▷ Disadvantaged groups

Who might benefit from Open Access

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▷ Issue of ‘Technocracy’ – technical elite

▷ Only technological savvy persons will benefit

▷ OA initiatives could increase information inequality

Therefore increasing health inequalities

▷ Need to ensure OA initiatives benefit all

▷ OA initiatives recognise unequal access and help to

target those with reduced access

Cautions………

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▷ ...if want to effect social change

▷ Build capacity such as training

e.g. awareness and education for behaviour change

▷ Knowledge mobilisation/translation

use and understand messages; contextualise it; then use

Beyond access…

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IPH Open Access Policy

▷IPH believes that current unequal access to

information, contributes to existing social and health

inequalities

▷Making information more broadly available will make a

significant contribution to tackling inequalities

www.publichealth.ie/site-page/iph-open-access-policy

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▷ IPH Corporate website

www.publichealth.ie

▷ The Health Well

www.thehealthwell.info

• Exploratory tools

o IPH Community Profiles Tool

• All Ireland Public Health Repository

http://repository.thehealthwell.info/

How IPH implements Open Access

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Open access – helping to “Close the gap”

Improving equal access

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Thank you

Any questions?

Email : lorraine.fahy@publichealth.ie

Web: www.publichealth.ie

www.thehealthwell.info

www.twitter.com/publichealthie

www.twitter.com/thehealthwell

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Working towards meaningful participation

Healthy Ireland

Theme 3 – Empowering People And Communities

▷ actions designed to empower individuals and

communities to make healthier choices

▷ Address and prioritise health literacy in developing

future policy, educational and information

interventions

▷ Strengthen participation in decision making for health

and wellbeing at community level.

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Working towards meaningful participation

Making Life Better

▷People Are Better Informed About Health Matters

▷Health literacy empowers people to make healthier

choices, decide to change their lifestyle and take action

▷health literacy as a set of individual capacities that

allow the individual to acquire and use new information.

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Is access to information a human right?

WHO

▷Health literacy: The solid facts

▷Health literacy – a key determinant of health

▷Health 2020, the European health policy framework

adopted by Member States in 2012

▷Strengthening health literacy has been shown to build

individual and community resilience, help address

health inequities and improve health and well-being.

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Joined at the hip…

Some things are just inseparable…

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Is access to information a human right?

▷ Information inequality limited engagement and

participation

▷ Unequal access unequal dialogue

▷ Non-meaningful participation in dialogue and health &

wellbeing

▷ Health literacy empowers people to make healthier

choices

▷ Weak health literacy further reinforce existing

inequalities

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