About Ophelia
Health literacy is broadly defined as a person’s ability to seek, understand and use health information.
Ophelia is a three year Victorian initiative which will identify and test new interventions to address health literacy needs in people attending a broad range of Victorian agencies. It is funded by the Australian Research Council ,in partnership with the Victorian Department of Health and Monash University.
Ophelia provides organisations with a structured approach to recognise, understand and respond to the health literacy needs of members of their community. The project is committed to improving health outcomes and reducing health inequalities for Victorians.
Ophelia first measures the different needs of clients using the Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ), which captures client’s experience, views and capabilities across nine dimensions. This is followed by the collaborative development and testing of new interventions to tackle health literacy issues at both the practitioner and service level.
Phase 1: Project setup Project teams are established at eight project sites. Client groups with potential health literacy needs are identified. Training workshops assist sites in delivering the Health Literacy Questionnaire to capture detailed information on clients’ health literacy needs.
Phase 2: Measure Health Literacy Baseline survey data on the health literacy profile of priority groups are collected using the Health Literacy Questionnaire. Each project site gathers their most experienced front-line practitioners and managers to take part in structured workshops where the health literacy needs of their clients are thoroughly discussed. The front-line staff generate local solutions in responses (interventions) to identified health literacy needs that can be implemented in their organisation at the patient, practitioner, service planner and policy levels.
Phase 3: Pilot interventions Evidence and ideas collected during Phase 2 inform the development of pilot interventions at each project site. These aim to tackle a range of specific health literacy issues faced by client groups. Interventions, and how they are implemented, are informed and refined through the application of ‘Plan, Do, Study, Act’ cycles.
Phase 4: Test interventions The refined interventions will be applied within and across the eight sites. The interventions will be applicable for a wide range of clients eligible to receive diverse services (from health promotion, to community health, to hospital services). A key outcome will be a set of common and specific interventions that are relevant to many clients and organisations across Victoria.
Additional activities
- Ophelia website A dedicated website will support partners and project sites. The site will promote information sharing and provide more in-depth information about the development of the Victorian Health Literacy Framework. Launch late 2013
Ophelia International
- The Ophelia approach is currently being applied in several countries including Thailand, South Africa, England and Denmark, with ongoing discussions in several other countries.
Chief investigators
- Prof Richard Osborne
- Prof Rachelle Buchbinder
- Dr Alison Beauchamp
- Ms Jeannine Jacobson
- Mr Roy Batterham
- Prof Gerald Elsworth
- Dr Sarity Dodson
- Ms Melanie Hawkins
- Ms Crystal McPhee
Information and Resources
-
Launch of Ophelia by the Victorian Minister for Health, Hon David Davies Link
- Ophelia video Link
- Ophelia News A regular project newsletter will shortly be available which provides project updates Subscribe
- Health Literacy and Ophelia This brochure provides an overview of the Ophelia approach to measuring health literacy and the development of new community-driven interventions. PDF (484kb)
- Listen to Prof Osborne discuss Ophelia on the ABC Health Report Link
Partners
- Deakin University
- Monash University
- Department of Health, Victoria
Project Sites
- Barwon Health
- Bass Coast Community Health
- Bayside City Council
- Central Bayside Community Health
- City of Greater Dandenong
- Eastern Health
- Ovens and King Community Health
- Royal District Nursing Service
Funders:
- Australian Research Council
- Deakin University
- Victorian Department of Health (including funding support from the Commonwealth and Victorian Governments under the Home and Community Care Program)
- Monash University
Page updated 20/06/2013
