Health literacy plays a crucial role in managing both individual and community health. It empowers people with the knowledge and skills to make informed decisions about their well-being. However, for people with disabilities—especially in low-resource settings like Sierra Leone—barriers such as physical inaccessibility, communication challenges, and discrimination often limit their access to health services and information.

To address this, a pilot intervention was designed with People with Disabilities, their carers, and AT users living in informal settlements in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Co-created through participatory workshops, the initiative used mobile phones and digital technology to support residents in accessing health information, drawing on previous AT2030 research.

AT2030, led by the Global Disability Innovation Hub, is an international initiative focused on improving access to life-changing AT. This sub-programme aimed to enhance health literacy and support access to primary health services for low-income urban residents, particularly people with disabilities.

The results show that digital technologies—if designed to match user priorities and capabilities—can be leveraged to support health information dissemination efforts and build health literacy among low income urban residents. 

With high engagement and uptake, the intervention demonstrates the potential for broader implementation within Freetown’s informal settlements and replication in similar contexts globally.

Read the full report.