Health Literacy Among Australians who Speak English as a Second Language

We help to develop the skills needed to make a difference. At the root of the issue is the lack of resources available to consumers who speaks English as a second language. We aim to gather available resources and develop new health related learning materials to bridge the existing gap .

About the Project

Starting Point

Engaging with health experts, we uncovered what the most fundamental tools are for improving health literacy.

Moving Forward

Finding out the existing gaps, main enduring barriers to health literacy, as well as the most essential requirements to improve health literacy, is at the core of our mission here.

Why This Project is Important?

In 2006, almost three million Australians aged 15–74 years spoke English as a second language. The 2006 Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey found that only 25 per cent of this group had achieved a level of individual health literacy described as adequate or better, compared with 44 percent of people whose first spoken language was English.

woman having blood pressure monitor
woman having blood pressure monitor

Patient Education Resources for Non-English Speaking Consumers

Finding reliable consumer health materials in non-English languages can be difficult for those with limited health knowledge. We aim to gather all available health literacy resources in one place to make it easy to find and select from various health-related information in many languages.

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Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

About Kids Health

Languages: English, , Français, 中文(简体) (Chinese Simplified), 中文(繁體)Chinese (Traditional),, Português (Portuguese), Español(Spanish) اردو (Urdu), தமிழ் (Tamil), العربية (Arabic), ਪੰਜਾਬੀ (Punjabi)

Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

American Cancer Society

Languages: Arabic (اللغة العربية), Chinese (简体中文), French (Français), Haitian Creole (Kreyòl Ayisyen), Hindi (जानकारी), Korean (한국어), Polish (język polski), Portuguese (Português), Russian (Русский), Spanish (Español), Tagalog (Tagalog), Ukrainian (Українська), Vietnamese (Tiếng Việt)

Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

American Academy of Peadetrics

Languages: Arabic, اَلْعَرَبِيَّةُ, Bengali, বাংলা, Chinese (simplified), 官话, English, French,français, Haitian Creole, kreyòl ayisyen, Hmong, Hmoob, Korean, 한국어, Polish, polski, Portuguese, português, Russian, русский язык, Somali, Soomaali, Spanish, español, Vietnamese, Tiếng Việt

Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

Australian Department of Health and Aged Care

Languages: Afrikaans, Albanian - Shqip, Alyawarr, Amharic - አማርኛ, Anindilyakwa, Arabic - العربية, Armenian - Հայերեն, Assyrian - ܐܵܬܘܿܪܵܝܵܐ, Bengali - বাংলা, Bosnian - Bosanski, Bulgarian - Български, Burarra, Burmese - မြန်မာ, Chaldean - سورث, Chin Hakha - Laiholh (Hakha), Chinese, Simplified - 简体中文, Chinese, Traditional - 繁體中文, Croatian - Hrvatski, Dari - دری, Dinka - Thuɔŋjäŋ, Dutch - Nederlands, Eastern Arrernte, Finnish - Suomi, French - Français, German - Deutsch, Greek - Ελληνικά, Gujarati - ગુજરાતી, Gurindji, Hausa, Hazaragi - هزاره گی, Hebrew - עברית, Hindi - हिन्दी, Hmong, Hungarian - Magyar, Igbo, Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia, Italian - Italiano, Japanese - 日本語, Kala Lagaw Ya^, Karen - ကညီကျိၥ်, Khmer, Kimberley Kriol, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi - Rundi, Korean - 한국어, Kriol, Kukatja, Kunwinjku, Kurdish - Kurdî, Kuuk Thaayorre, Laotian - Lao, Macedonian - Македонски, Malay - Bahasa Melayu, Malayalam - മലയാളം, Maltese - Malti, Meriam Mir, Murrinh-Patha, Nepali - नेपाली, Ngaanyatjarra, Oromo - Afaan Oromoo, Pashto - پښتو, Persian, Farsi - فارسی, Pintupi-Luritja, Pitjantjatjara, Polish - Polski, Portuguese - Português, Punjabi - ਪੰਜਾਬੀ, Rohingya - Ruáinga, Romanian - Română, Russian - Русский, Samoan - Samoa, Serbian - Српски, Sinhala - සිංහල, Slovak - Slovenčina, Slovenian - Slovenščina, Somali, Spanish - Español, Swahili - Kiswahili, Tagalog, Tamil - தமிழ், Thai - ภาษาไทย, Tibetan - བོད་སྐད།, Tigrinya - ትግርኛ, Tiwi, Tongan - Lea Faka-Tonga, Torres Strait Creole - Yumplatok, Turkish - Türkçe, Ukrainian - Українська, Urdu - اردو, Uyghur, Vietnamese - Tiếng Việt, Walmajarri, Warlpiri, Western Arrarnta, Wik-Mungkan, Yankunytjatjara, Yolngu Matha, Yorùbá, Yulparija (Martu Wangka).

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Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

Bringing Up Great Kids

Languages: Amharic - አማርኛ, Arabic, Chinese, Croatian, Dari, Dinka, English, Farsi, Khmer, Macedonian. Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Tigrinya, Turkish, Vietnamese

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Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

Cancer Council NSW

Languages: Arabic | العربية, Chinese | 中文, Greek | Ελληνικά, Hindi | हिंदी, Italian | Italiano, Mакедонски – Macedonian, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese

Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

Translated appointment reminder tools

Link to Website: Cancer Council Victoria multilingual printable appointment card

Cancer Council Victoria Multilingual Printable Appointment Card

Languages: Amharic, Arabic, Bosnian, Chinese, Croatian, Dari, Dinka, Filipino, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Karen, Khmer, Macedonian, Malay, Maltese, Polish, Punjabi Russian Serbian, Sinhala, Somali, Spanish, Sudanese Arabic, Tamil, Thai, Tigrinya, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese

Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

CLEAR Toolkit

The CLEAR toolkit is a clinical decision-making tool designed to assist healthcare professionals, including physicians, nurses, and allied health workers, in evaluating patient vulnerability sensitively and effectively. It is complemented by a trainer's manual and is accessible in over ten languages.

Languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, Farsi, French, Hindi, Japanese, Khmer, Kinyarwanda, Korean, Luganda, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Turkish, Urdu, Yoruba

Link to Website: https://www.mcgill.ca/clear/download

Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

Link to Website: Children's Hospital Westmead - translated child health information

Children's Hospital Westmead

Languages:

Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

ClinicalKey Patient Education

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Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

Dental Health Services Victoria

Languages: Arabic, Burmese, Chin (Hakha) | Chinese simplified | Chinese traditional | Dari | Dinka | English | Farsi | Greek | Hazaragi | Italian | Karen | Khmer | Macedonian | Nuer | Persian | Punjabi | Somali | Spanish | Swahili | Tamil | Tigrinya | Turkish | Urdu | Vietnamese

Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

Dementia Australia

Information in Multiple Languages Explore a wide array of Dementia-related information available in various languages.

Languages: Arabic (العربية), Armenian (հայերեն), Assyrian (ܐܵܬܘܿܪܵܝܵܐ), Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ), Croatian (Hrvatski), Dari (دری), Dutch (Nederlands), Filipino (Tagalog), Finnish (Suomalainen), French (Français), German (Deutsche), Greek (ελληνικά), Hazaragi (آزرگی), Hindi (हिंदी), Hungarian (Magyar), Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia), Italian (Italiano), Japanese (日本語), Karen (ကညီကျိာ်), Khmer (ខ្មែរ), Korean (한국어), Lao (ລາວ), Latvian (Latvijas), Lithuanian (Lietuvos), Macedonian (МАКЕДОНСКИ), Malay (Bahasa Melayu), Maltese (Malti), Nepali (नेपाली), Polish (Polskie), Portuguese (Português), Punjabi (ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਦੇ), Romanian (Românesc), Russian (русский), Serbian (српски), Simplified Chinese (简体字), Spanish (Español), Tamil (தமிழ்), Thai (ไทย), Traditional Chinese (正體字), Turkish (Türk), Ukrainian (український), Vietnamese (Tiếng Việt).

Link to Website: https://www.dementia.org.au/languages

Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

Diabetes Victoria

Languages: 简体中文 Simplified Chinese, 繁體中文 Traditional Chinese, Ελληνικά Greek, Italiano Italian, Mакедонски Macedonian, Español Spanish, Türk Turkish, Việt Vietnamese, العربية Arabic

Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

Diabetes Australia

Permissions and Acknowledgments

Permission has been obtained to include links from Diabetes Australia on this webpage. We are grateful for their contribution to our resource hub.

Languages:

Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

Directories of Bilingual Health Professionals

Directories of bilingual health professionals - see  clinical psychologists,  psychology,  psychiatrists,  dietitians,   speech pathologists,  pharmacists

Languages: Afrikaans, Albanian, Arabic , Armenian, Basque,Bengali, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Cambodian, Cantonese, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Fiji , Finnish , French , Georgian, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi , Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Irish , Italian, Japanese , Javanese, Korean, Latin, Latvian , Lithuanian Macedonian , Malay , Malayalam , Maltese , Mandarin, Maori , Marathi , Mongolian, Nepali , Netherlandic, Norwegian, Other Chinese, Persian , Polish , Portuguese , Punjabi, Quechua, Romanian , Russian, Samoan , Serbian, Sinhalese, Slovak , Slovenian , Spanish, Swahili , Swedish, Tagalog (Filipino) , Tamil , Tatar , Telugu, Thai, Tibetan , Tonga , Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uzbek , Vietnamese, Welsh , Xhosa

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Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

EthnoMed

EthnoMed Patient Education (University of Washington) This page has patient education resources, culture-specific pages (links to materials for target groups in their own languages), and a patient education section in many languages, including Cambodian, Chin, Chinese, Eritrean, Hmong, Iraqi, Karen, Latinx, Nepali speaking Bhutanese, Oromo, Somali, Ukranian, Vietnamese, Amharic, English, Somali, Spanish, Tigrinya, Vietnamese, English, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Vietnamese, Cantonese, Chinese, , Japanese, Karen, Khmer, Korean, Lao, Nepali, Oromo, Russian, Somali, Spanish, and Tagalog.

Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

Embrace Multicultural Mental Health

Embrace offers a collection of translated mental health resources developed by the National Mental Health Strategy (Commonwealth Government of Australia) and Multicultural Mental Health Australia (MMHA) for healthcare practitioners serving culturally and linguistically diverse populations.

Link to Website: https://embracementalhealth.org.au/

Languages: English, amˈharɪk Amharic, عربى Arabic, ܣܘܪܝܬ Assyrian, 简体中文 Simplified Chinese, বাংলা Bengali, မြန်မာဘာသာ Burmese, hrvatski Croatian, دری‎ Dari, Thuɔŋjäŋ Dinka, فارسی Farsi, Ελληνικά Greek, آزرگی‎ Hazaragi, Italiano Italian, ကညီကျိ Karen, ភាសាខ្មែរ Khmer, 한국어 Korean, Krio Krio, Macedonian Macedonian, नेपाली Nepali, فارسی Persian, polski Polish, ਪੰਜਾਬੀ Punjabi, русский Russian, српски Serbian, Español Spanish, Kiswahili Swahili, தமிழ் Tamil, 繁體中文 Traditional Chinese, Türkçe Turkish, Việt Vietnamese

Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

Eurasia Health Knowledge Network & Multilingual Library

Eurasia Health Knowledge Network & Multilingual Library - a database of health education materials available in the languages of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union

Languages: Albanian, Armenian, Azeri, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, English, Estonian, Georgian, Hungarian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Turkmen, Ukrainian, Uzbek

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Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

HEALTHILY

Languages: English, Arabic, Greek, Italian, Tagalog, Hindi, Punjabi, Vietnamese, Cantonese and Mandarin

Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

HealthLink BC

Languages: Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, French, Korean, Punjabi, Spanish, Vietnamese

Link to Website: https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/more/resources/other-languages

healthdirect

Multi-language health resources including videos

Languages:Arabic, Bengali, Chinese simplified, Chinese traditional, Vietnamese

Link to website:https://about.healthdirect.gov.au/multi-language-health-resources

Permissions and Acknowledgments

Our website includes materials from healdirect used with their permission, and links to healdirect are provided as recommended by them. We have also received authorization to use the healdirect logo in accordance with their guidelines.

Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

Health Finder

Languages: Spanish and English

Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

Health Information Translation

Exploring race, identity, family and community

National Literacy Trust (UK) Black lives matter reading lists for 0-16y - exploring race, identity, family and community

Languages: Amharic (Amarɨñña / አማርኛ), Arabic (العربية), Bosnian (bosanski), Chinese Simplified (简体中文), Chinese Simplified + Traditional (简体中文 繁體中文), Chinese Traditional (繁體中文), English, French (français), Hindi (हिन्दी), Japanese (日本語), Korean (한국어), Multilingual, Nepali (नेपाली), Portuguese (português), Russian (Русский), Somali (Af-Soomaali), Spanish (español), Swahili (Kiswahili), Tagalog (Wikang Tagalog), Ukrainian (Українська), and Vietnamese (Tiếng Việt).

Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

Health Navigator New Zealand

Languages: Amharic, Arabic, Burmese, Chinese, Cook Islands Māori, Dari, Farsi, Fijian, Filipino, French, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Khmer, Kiribati (Tungaru), Korean, Mongolian, Te reo Māori, New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL), Niuean, Persian, Punjabi, Rotuman, Samoan, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Tamil, Thai, Tokelauan, Tongan, Tuvaluan, Urdu, Vietnamese

Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

Health Translations

An initiative by the Victorian Government, Health Translations provides health professionals and the community with reliable and up-to-date health information in numerous languages. The platform connects to multilingual resources from government bodies, health organizations, and welfare groups.

Languages: Acholi, Afrikaans, Akan, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Assyrian, Auslan, Bemba, Bengali, Bislama, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Burmese, Chaldean, Chin, Chin Falam, Chin Hakha, Chinese, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Cangolese (Swahili), Croatian, Creole, Czech, Danish, Dari, Dinka, Dutch, Easy English, Estonian, Faili, Farsi (Persian), Fijian, Finnish, French, Gilbertese, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hakka, Harari, Hausa, Hazaragi, Hebrew, Hindi, Hmong, Hungarian, Igbo, Juba Arabic, Kala Lagaw Ya, Karen, Karenni, Kinyarwanda, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Karen, Khmer (Cambodian), Kirundi, Korean, Krio, Kurdish, Kurmanji, Lao, Latvian, Lebanese Arabic, Lingala, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Malay, Malayalam, Maltese, Māori, Māori (Cook Islands), Mizo, Meriam, Nauruan, Nepali, Norwegian, Nuer, Oromo, Pashto, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Rohingya, Romanian, Rotuman, Russian, Samoan, Sango, Serbian, Serbian (Cyrillic), Serbian (Latin), Sinhalese, Slovak, Slovene, Somali, Sorani, Spanish, Sudanese, Sudanese Arabic, Swahili, Swahili (Congolese), Swahili (Kenyan), Swedish, Tagalog (Filipino), Tamil, Telugu, Tetum, Thai, Tibetan, Tigrinya, Torres Strait Creole, Tok Pisin, Tongan, Tuvalu, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese, Yiddish, Yoruba, Zande, Zomi

Link to Website: https://www.healthtranslations.vic.gov.au/

Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

heretohelp

Languages: Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Farsi (Persian)/Dari, French, Korean, Punjabi, Japanese, and Vietnamese. English, Arabic, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Pashtu, Farsi, Punjabi, Urdu.

Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

Humanitarian Settlement Program

Links to Website: Humanitarian settlement program and fact sheets in  English,  Arabic,  Assyrian,  Burmese,   Dari,  Farsi,  Karen,   Nepali,  Somali,  Swahili,  Tigrinya

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Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

Immunization Action Coalition

Print materials available in a variety of languages

Languages: Spanish, Arabic, Armenian, Bengali, Burmese, Chinese-Simplified, Chinese-Traditional, Dari, Farsi, French, German, Haitian Creole, Hindi, Hmong, Italian, Japanese, Khmer (Cambodian), Korean, Pashto, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Somali, Swahili, Tagalog, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese, and Yiddish. These languages have Vaccine Information Statements (VISs) available. Additionally, some languages have other clinical resources alongside VISs, including Chinese-Simplified, French, Korean, Russian, Turkish, and Vietnamese.

Link to Website: https://www.immunize.org/vaccines/vis/varicella/

Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

interCultural Online Health Network (iCON)

Languages: Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, French, Korean, Punjabi, Spanish, Vietnamese, Indigenous cultural content

Links to Website:

https://southasian.iconproject.org

https://chinese.iconproject.org

https://indigenous.iconproject.org

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Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

James A. Zimble Learning Resource Center

Languages: This Canadian resource provides multilingual health information in Arabic, Chinese, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Swahili, Tamil and Urdu. In addition, mirror websites are available in French and Chinese. Cultural competency resources and patient education materials in the following languages: Amharic, Cambodian, Chinese, Eritrean, Ethiopian, Oromo, Somali, Spanish, Tigrean, Vietnamese and others. Health education resources in the Arabic, Chinese Simplified and Traditional, French, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese. Vaccine information produced by the Centers for Disease Control. Available in Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, French, Hmong, Karen, Korean, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Turkish, and Vietnamese.

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Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

King County, Washington (United States)

Languages: American Sign Language, Amharic, Arabic, Bosnian, Burmese, Chinese (traditional), Farsi, French, Hindi, Hmong, Karen, Khmer, Korean, Laotian, Marshallese, Nepali, Oromo, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Tagalog, Thai, Tigrigna, Ukrainian, Vietnamese

Link to Website: https://kingcounty.gov/en/legacy/depts/regional-animal-services/translations

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Multi lingual Patient Education Resources

Lab Tests Online

Languages: Chinese, Czech, English, French, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Korean, Polish, Romanian, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish

Link to Website: https://labtestsonline.org.uk/global-sites

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Multi lingual Patient Education Resources