ABC Health Matters empowers Canadians to manage their health more effectively by increasing their confidence when talking about and making decisions regarding health issues with family, friends and health professionals. Through the program, which offers free resources and opportunities to host workshops, adults develop a deeper understanding of how to advocate for their and their family’s health and better understand how to access health care.

Why is health literacy important?

According to the Canadian Public Health Association, 60 per cent of Canadian adults and 88 per cent of seniors are not health literate. Patients with low health literacy are more likely to make errors when interpreting medication instructions and warning labels. Seniors, immigrants and unemployed people have, on average, lower levels of health literacy skills.

A variety of health literacy resources for learners and practitioners

ABC Health Matters offers several free downloadable resources to help Canadians improve their health literacy skills such as:

• Take Charge of Your Health
• Organizing Care
• Healthy Caregiving
• Tips for your next Doctor Visit
• Your Rights as a Patient

Free online courses (Take Charge of Your Health, Healthy Caregiving, and Organizing Care) are also offered through the ABC Skills Hub – an online learning portal of ABC Life Literacy Canada’s adult literacy programs. Users can sign up for a free account at abcskillshub.ca and complete the courses at their own pace, save their work in progress, and download course content and helpful reminders of what they’ve learned. Practitioners can also create free accounts on the ABC Skills Hub and set up virtual classrooms for learners.

In addition to the workbooks, there are additional resources available on several topics, including making a medical history card, services from your pharmacist, and helpful links. All can be downloaded for free at abchealthmatters.ca.

Bring the program to your organization

ABC Health Matters is completely free and accessible for anyone to use. Learners and organizations can download resources to use at home or in workshops. Organizations can sign up to host as many workshops as they like, delivered in person, or virtually. Host organizations can also request printed resources for their learners.

Organizations that want to host workshops can simply sign up at abchealthmatters.ca. From there, they will be connected to a regional representative, who will speak with them about their upcoming workshop, and provide all the necessary training and materials.

To learn more about ABC Health Matters, or to book a workshop, visit abchealthmatters.ca.

About ABC Life Literacy Canada

ABC Life Literacy Canada is a national charitable organization that champions literacy by empowering adult learners, raising awareness, and supporting the adult learning sector. The organization develops and supports the use of foundational learning materials and helps to build the capacity of the sector by convening and connecting the adult literacy community and advocating for skills programming. ABC Life Literacy Canada envisions a Canada where everyone has the skills and opportunities to fully participate in learning, life and work.