Health Literacy as a Strategic Component in Modern Healthcare

4. Nov 2025 | B2B

Health Literacy sign

How Health Literacy Influences Treatment Success and Patient Engagement

Knowledge is healing power – especially when patients understand why and how their therapy works. Health Literacy, i.e., the ability to understand and apply health information, is increasingly recognized as a decisive factor for adherence, Patient Activation, and quality of care.

But what role does it actually play? And how can pharmaceutical companies, digital health providers, and medical organizations specifically contribute to promoting health literacy?

Health Literacy: More Than Just Understanding Information

The WHO definition describes health literacy as the ability to find, understand, evaluate, and use health-related information to make decisions in everyday life.

Recent studies show that health literacy today encompasses multidimensional aspects:

  • Digital health literacy (e.g., use of apps, electronic health records, wearables)

  • Communicative competence in doctor-patient dialogue

  • Critical health literacy, i.e., the ability to review and question information

This development makes it clear that health literacy is not only an individual skill – it is also a systemic feature of modern healthcare.

Health Literacy and Medication Intake

People who have a better understanding of their health tend to be more conscious and responsible about their treatment. A review by Hyvert et al., 2022 clearly shows that patients with higher health literacy take their medication more reliably – especially in the case of chronic conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure, where consistent therapy is crucial for long-term treatment success.

A recent study by Babazadeh et al. (2024) confirms this correlation and illustrates that health literacy has a measurable impact on treatment adherence. Various levels of health literacy can explain up to 8.7% of the differences in adherence, regardless of age or educational level. Health literacy usually has an indirect effect, for example through a better understanding of one’s own illness, a stronger sense of self-efficacy, or trust in doctors and the healthcare system.

Those who understand why treatment is important and how it works are more likely to remain active and committed to therapy. This is precisely what the World Health Organization (WHO, 2003) emphasizes:

“Improving adherence requires empowering patients through education and support.” – World Health Organization (2003)

Health literacy is therefore much more than just knowledge. It empowers people to take an active and self-determined approach to their health – and is therefore a key factor in successful treatment and quality of life.

Interventions: What Really Works?

If health literacy has such a significant impact on treatment adherence, the question arises: How can it be specifically promoted? New meta-analyses and reviews from 2024 and 2025 provide a clear answer.

Visual interventions, such as videos, charts, or pictograms, have been shown to facilitate the understanding of complex medical information. Digital health tools (apps, e-learning platforms, etc.) also show good results, especially when they are interactive and take individual needs into account.

Tailored programs for older patients have also proven to be particularly effective. They address the typical challenges faced by this target group, promote confidence in their own ability to manage illness and therapy, and thus strengthen self-efficacy.

The conclusion: Successful interventions focus on comprehensibility, individualization, and interactivity.

Health literacy cannot be improved through standard solutions, but rather through approaches that meet people where they are and empower them to make informed decisions about their health.

Strategic Importance for Pharma and HealthTech

Health literacy is not just a matter of individual patient responsibility, but is increasingly becoming a strategic factor for the healthcare system as a whole. For pharmaceutical companies, digital health providers, and medical organizations, this means conveying information that is not only accurate, but above all understandable, accessible, and relevant to everyday life. Strengthening health literacy not only promotes knowledge, but also trust, motivation, and adherence to therapy, thereby contributing directly to the quality of care.

Communication plays a central role in this. Comprehensible, clearly structured, and visually appealing materials – from package leaflets to websites to app articles – can themselves become an effective intervention. Any information that is truly understood increases the likelihood that patients will actively participate in their treatment.

Digital platforms are also becoming increasingly important. Solutions such as mediteo make it possible to convey health information directly in the context of therapy – for example, through reminder functions, explanatory modules, or personalized medication overviews. This makes health literacy a tangible part of everyday life and supports users’ active participation in their therapy.

However, evidence is also needed to ensure that such measures have a long-term impact. By using Real-World Evidence (RWE) and Patient-Reported Outcomes (PROs), it is possible to determine whether communication or app-based interventions actually lead to better outcomes. These findings help to further develop health literacy measures in a targeted manner – and show that promoting health literacy is not only ethically sound, but also measurably effective.

Conclusion

Health literacy is not a “soft” variable, but a key determinant of therapeutic success, cost efficiency, and patient engagement.
It plays a decisive role in determining whether medical knowledge is translated into effective action – and whether healthcare remains successful, fair, and sustainable in the long term.

For stakeholders in the healthcare sector, this means:

  • Promoting health literacy = improving outcomes

  • Using digital media = making knowledge accessible

  • Using RWD = making impact measurable

Strengthening health literacy is therefore much more than a communication task – it is healthcare innovation, prevention, and corporate strategy all at once. Empowering people to understand their health creates the foundation for healthcare that works because it is understood.

 

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