**5.13 Take individual health literacy levels into account**

Messages also must be reflective of individuals' respective health literacy levels3 [48, 72, 114]. Numerous studies determined individual's health literacy is rather low [48, 114–116]. "Barriers that keep the people we want to become more scientifically literate from understanding what we do [is that] they do not know the terminology". For this reason, messages must ensure that people do not feel overwhelmed with the information they are presented with. *Governments seem to have taken this advice to heart by predominantly broadcasting simple messages, such as it was the case in Austria, Germany, and Australia.*

## **5.14 Reduce message complexity**

While low health literacy levels can result in unintended health outcomes [51], messages low in complexity can enhance both individuals' message processing and willingness to act on the recommendations presented therein [51]. More complex messages, however challenge individuals as they require more elaborate health literacy skills for individuals to not only understand the message, but also align message content with existing knowledge [117]. *Examples for reduced and simplified messages can be found for Germany, Austria, as well as for UNICEF and FIAF, who heavily relied on visual (instructive) information. For examples from Austria, see Figure 8.*
