The German Network for Health Literacy (Deutsches Netzwerk Gesundheitskompetenz, DNGK) is an interdisciplinary, non-profit association in Germany. We develop, assess, and disseminate methods and concepts to strengthen health literacy across research, education, and real-world practice.

A platform for collaboration between practice and science
Our domains (“Fachbereiche”) are where members pool expertise, discuss needs from practice, and shape projects and outputs.

Quality and trust in health information
DNGK runs an initiative on reliable health knowledge (“Verlässliches Gesundheitswissen”), which highlights and documents quality criteria for trustworthy health portals and supports transparency around authorship, evidence, updating, funding, and editorial independence.

Events and knowledge exchange
We organize regular meetings and web seminars (“Webseminare”) across topics, from digital health literacy to implementation and organizational approaches.

Note on language: The working language at the DNGK is German. Meetings and network activities generally take place in German. Exceptions, e. g. English language seminars and events, are invited and encouraged to open the space up to wider participation.

Accessible Health Communication
This section focuses on making health information understandable, actionable, and inclusive, including approaches such as plain language, barrier-free formats, and communication tailored to different needs. Typical topics include readability, risk communication, culturally sensitive communication, and design choices that reduce cognitive load. The goal is to strengthen access and comprehension as a foundation of health literacy.

Patient Experiences in Healthcare
This section works on how patient experiences and narratives can be used responsibly in health information and care improvement. It addresses quality criteria for experience reports (e. g. transparency, representativeness, context) and how experiences can complement evidence without replacing it. A key aim is enabling learning from lived experience while preventing bias and unintended harm.

Mis- and Disinformation
This section addresses the spread and impact of health misinformation and disinformation and develops practical responses for counseling, care settings, education, and communication. Topics include rumor dynamics, trust and credibility, platform-specific challenges, and strategies for prevention and response (e. g., prebunking, debunking, media literacy). The focus is on solutions that work in real-life settings.

Health Professions
This section strengthens health literacy within and through health professions (e. g. medicine, nursing, therapy, allied health). It covers communication competencies, shared decision-making, and how professional education and continuing training can integrate health literacy principles. It also considers organizational conditions that enable health-literate care (time, tools, pathways).

Media (including AI)
This section looks at how health literacy is shaped by media environments from journalism and social media to digital platforms and emerging AI tools. Current topics include how generative AI affects information quality, discoverability, and trust, as well as opportunities for scalable, user-centered communication. The section aims to connect media practice, research evidence, and quality standards.

Organisational Health Literacy
This section focuses on organisations as environments that can either enable or hinder people’s health literacy. It covers health-literate structures in healthcare, public services, and workplaces such as navigation, forms, signage, processes, and staff communication.

Education and Health Literacy (Pedagogy)
This section focuses on health literacy in schools and educational contexts, including curricula, teacher training, and learning environments. It addresses age-appropriate health information skills, critical evaluation of sources, and the role of families and communities. The aim is to build competencies early and reduce health inequities over the life course.

Planetary Health: Literacy & Prevention
This section connects health literacy with planetary health: how environmental and climate-related factors influence health and what prevention and communication should consider. Topics include risk communication (heat, air quality, extreme events), co-benefits (e. g. mobility, diet), and community resilience. The goal is to make complex interdependencies understandable and actionable.

Young Researchers
This section supports early-career researchers working on health literacy by offering networking, exchange, and visibility for emerging work. It often serves as a bridge between disciplinary perspectives and helps develop collaborative projects and conference contributions. The aim is capacity-building and long-term strengthening of the field.

Health literacy challenges are global: trust, misinformation, equitable access, AI in health communication, organisational transformation. DNGK’s organisational health literacy activities already explicitly connect within the DACH region. DNGK values international exchange to:

• align concepts and measurement approaches
• share implementation strategies and lessons learned
• develop joint projects, publications, and events
• connect German-language work with international discourse