The ability to thrive and make competent decisions about health depends on the demands individuals encounter in relation to health. Health literacy is therefore also shaped by the organisation, complexity, and communication of the healthcare system.
In this programme, we collaborate with the established healthcare system and its partners to identify and break down barriers, making health services more accessible and understandable for everyone (organisational health literacy).
Purpose
Describe and develop the theoretical foundation for organizational health literacy with a focus on equity.
Description
OHL‑ALL consists of international researchers and experts in organizational health literacy who since 2022 have worked with the concept. Their work is grounded in Amartya Sen's capability approach and includes four work packages:
Partner
Steno Diabetes Center Zealand.
Purpose
Increase organizational health literacy in Danish pregnancy and postpartum care.
Description
Builds on the results of a PhD project (HeLP) that examined pregnant women's health literacy.
Five work packages were developed through co‑creation workshops with health professionals and leaders:
Duration
Two years starting September 2025.
Partners
Randers Regional Hospital and Randers Municipality.
Read more:
Purpose
The purpose of this project is to further develop and test the OS (OHL-Act) tool to enhance its usability and potential for identifying improvement ideas within organizational health literacy.
Description
The project will be carried out in two phases:
The project will generate new knowledge on how organizational health literacy can be developed and evaluated in practice.
The project’s results will directly contribute to the foundation for the project “Evaluation of the implementation and impact of OS (OHL-Act) in Danish healthcare organizations.”
Partners
More information: Publication under review
Purpose
This project aims to evaluate the use of the OS method for developing organizational health literacy in a range of different organizations within the Danish healthcare system, with a focus on examining the implementation and effect of the method as well as contextual change mechanisms that influence its impact.
Description
Organizational health literacy refers to the ability of health services, organizations, and systems to meet the needs associated with limited health literacy. OS (OHL-Act) is a method for identifying organizational strengths and weaknesses and generating improvement ideas within organizational health literacy.
This multi-site project will follow 5–10 organizations as they implement OS and subsequently work on organizational improvements. Using the RE-AIM/PRISM analytical framework, we will describe the potential effects of working with organizational health literacy through OS, as well as the mechanisms and factors that determine these effects.
The project will proceed in two phases:
The evaluation is expected to provide concrete knowledge on how organizational health literacy can be developed and integrated into different organizational contexts.
Partners
The project is planned in collaboration with:
Purpose
The aim of this PhD project (2025–2028) is to examine the association between health literacy and continuity of care in general practice with a focus on supporting continuity of care.
Description
A complex and specialized healthcare system places high demands on patients, who must navigate their care pathways and process large amounts of information. The general practitioner plays a key role as both gatekeeper and coordinator for the individual patient’s treatment pathway, and thus for continuity and coordination within these pathways. OS (OHL-Act) is a method for identifying organizational strengths and weaknesses and generating improvement ideas within organizational health literacy.
This project applies the OS (OHL-Act) method in general practice to describe and improve organizational health literacy with the aim of strengthening continuity in care pathways originating in general practice.
The project also focuses on adapting the method to the context of general practitioners and the organizational structure of their clinics.
The project is expected to contribute knowledge on how organizational health literacy can be developed and integrated into general practice. Furthermore, the results are expected to support increased continuity in patient pathways originating in general practice.
Partners
Research Unit for General Practice, Aarhus
Formål
Formålet med dette ph.d-projekt (2025-2028) er at undersøge, om der er en sammenhæng mellem sundhedskompetence og kontinuitet i patientforløb, samt at undersøge og beskrive den organisatoriske sundhedskompetence i almen praksis med fokus på at understøtte kontinuiteten.
Beskrivelse
Et komplekst og specialiseret sundhedsvæsen stiller høje krav til patienten, der skal navigere sit forløb og forholde sig til store mængder information. Den praktiserende læge spiller en nøglerolle som både gatekeeper og tovholder for den enkelte patients behandlingsforløb og dermed for kontinuitet og koordination i de enkelte forløb. OS (OHL-Act) er en metode til at identificere organisatoriske styrker og svagheder og udvikle forbedringsideer indenfor organisatorisk sundhedskompetence.
Dette projekt benytter metoden OS (OHL-Act) til at beskrive og styrke den organisatoriske sundhedskompetence i almen praksis, med henblik på også at bidrage til øget kontinuitet i patientforløbene med udgangspunkt i almen praksis. Projektet har også fokus på at tilpasse metoden til den alment praktiserende læges kontekst og klinikkernes organisatoriske struktur.
Projektet forventes at bidrage med viden om hvordan organisatorisk sundhedskompetence kan udvikles og integreres i almen praksis. Derudover forventes resultaterne at understøtte øget kontinuitet i patientforløb med udgangspunkt i almen praksis.
Samarbejdspartnere
Forskningsenheden for Almen Praksis, Aarhus
Purpose
Develop an intervention based on health literacy that increases the quality of rehabilitation services after heart disease for citizens referred to Randers Rehabilitation Unit.
Description
A three‑year PhD project following the principles of the Ophelia method. The project took place at Randers Rehabilitation Unit and consisted of a needs assessment, a co‑creation process and a pilot of the developed intervention. It developed health literacy profiles based on a questionnaire among people referring to cardiac rehabilitation and described the organizational health literacy of the rehabilitation unit. The project is evaluated based on organizational cultural changes and formed the basis for continued improvement work focusing on health literacy. Heart Skills was designated a National Health Literacy Demonstration Project by the World Health Organization in 2019.
Partners
Randers Rehabilitation Unit (Randers Municipality) and the WHO National Health Literacy Demonstration Projects.
Read more:
Aaby A. The Heart Skills Study - Health literacy and health literacy responsiveness in cardiac disease prevention and rehabilitation. PhD dissertation (2020)
Aaby A, Simonsen CB, Ryom K. Improving Organizational Health Literacy Responsiveness in Cardiac Rehabilitation Using a Co-Design Methodology: Results from The Heart Skills Study. Int J Environ Res Public Health (2020)
Aaby A, Friis K, Christensen B, Maindal HT. Health Literacy among People in Cardiac Rehabilitation: Associations with Participation and Health-Related Quality of Life in the Heart Skills Study in Denmark (2020)
Bakker MM, Putrik P, Aaby ASE, Debussche X, Morrissey J, Borge CR, et al. Acting together – WHO National Health Literacy Demonstration Projects (NHLDPs) address health literacy needs in the European Region (2019)
Aaby A, Beauchamp A, O’Hara J, Maindal HT. Large diversity in Danish health literacy profiles: perspectives for care of long-term illness and multimorbidity (2019)
Aaby A, Friis K, Christensen B, Rowlands G, Maindal HT. Health literacy is associated with health behaviour and self-reported health: A large population-based study in individuals with cardiovascular disease (2017)
Purpose
Integrate organizational health literacy as an approach in the Danish health care system to mitigate the effect of social health inequality.
Description
Since 2020 we have worked with organizational health literacy both internally in the Health Authority and externally by providing guidance and recommendations to professionals.
In 2022 we published the report “Health literacy in the Danish health care system – a way to greater equity”, which is aimed at leaders and employees and recommends eight ways to strengthen an organization’s health literacy. A short film based on the report has been produced.
Our ongoing collaboration focuses on developing and testing more concrete tools as well as developing a continuing education offer and an ambassador corps for health professionals who gain special insight into and can communicate about health literacy.
Partner
Danish Health Authority.
Purpose
Translate, test and further develop a method to evaluate and develop organizational health literacy in Danish health centers.
Description
Three health centers carried out a co‑creation process focusing on organizational health literacy and developed improvement initiatives.
The Australian co‑design tool Org‑HLR was translated and tested, and numerous adaptations resulted in the development of the OS! method.
The OS! method has since been used in several organizations and is currently being evaluated and further improved to achieve greater user‑friendliness and support for organizational change.
Partners
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