Using education theory to design a patient E-Health education system capable of increasing health literacy

Evidence shows that increasing patients´ health literacy can significantly reduce hospitalisation, improve quality of life, and reduce early mortality. This paper uses education theory to explain how health literacy can be increased through a process of differentiated learning. It then goes on to create a set of requirements for an E-Health education system, which are validated through best practice in patient education and also by a community of health education experts and clinicians. The paper then gives an example of a prototype system designed using current educational best practices, designed to enable patients to read more technically difficult documents, communicate more effectively, and access additional learning material to take more control of their own health needs. The system is also designed to integrate with strategies which promote adult literacy and numeracy to help empower patients to learn.