Healthy Citizens 2.0 - Supporting digital empowerment and health literacy of citizens

Digital technologies are a driving force for empowering citizens in taking on an active role in the management of their own health and well-being as well as for supporting innovations for coordinated person-centred care models.

There is a growing body of evidence demonstrating the value of digital health interventions and solutions for health promotion, disease prevention and treatment. However, in parallel, it is vital to ensure that online-based patient-centred programmes do not leave behind the very people they are primarily designed to empower. Moreover, citizen’s digital health literacy is essential for the successful transformation of health care systems.

Accordingly, the proposed activities should address all of the following:

• Map health literacy research in the EU (and beyond).
• Develop a comprehensive and inclusive European strategy in improving (digital) health literacy for the benefit of all citizens focusing on health promotion, disease prevention, treatment and (self-)care as well as on monitoring its impact on the quality of life, wellbeing, productivity and the economy, taking into account geographic, social and economic determinants of inequities in digital health literacy.
• Help patients navigate the health care systems, interact with their doctors and carers as well as better manage their own health at home, in the community and at work.
• Create a network of champions in digital health literacy across the EU (and beyond) to foster exchange and uptake of best practices.
• Set concrete targets as well as areas for improvement on health literacy levels across Europe.
• Develop monitoring mechanisms and indicators to assess health literacy levels and their evolution across Member States.
• Include stakeholders from all relevant sectors (including but not limited to education, innovation, health care, Medtech, media) and involve also citizens in the co-creation, design, planning, implementation and evaluation of the strategy, including through social innovation tools and approaches.

In all instances, gender as well as demographic, geographic and socio-economic aspects should be duly taken into account.