Health Literacy as a Process: Caseworker Perspectives on HIV Health Literacy

Abstract

Health status and health literacy are interrelated. Previous research suggests that this relationship must be considered when providing services to HIV positive individuals. However, the pathways through which health literacy affects HIV remain unclear. This study seeks to understand the connections between health literacy and HIV from a caseworker perspective. Results suggest that caseworkers reject static definitions of health literacy by conceptualizing it as an emergent process. Caseworkers also expressed the need for development of subcomponents upon which health literacy is founded: (a) the building of trust, and (b) understanding clients' hierarchy of needs.

The missing link: Towards an integrated health and information literacy research agenda

“…A reliance on models such as these consequently centres attention upon what Harris et al (2015) refer to as "information giving" or simplistic sequences of information transfer where information flows in a "unidirectional, uncomplicated, and linear flow from information creator to information user" (Lee & Garvin, 2003, p.449). These ideas, which position the acquisition of health knowledge as a simplistic "proxy" for health literacy (Brinkley-Rubinstein et al, 2015), also risk denying patient agency as well as broader understanding about how people access and understand health information.…”

Levels of health literacy among people living with HIV in outpatient care: a cross-sectional study from Denmark

“…HL is dynamic, responding to various contextual, individual, and situational factors [ 7 ]. The view of HL as a process that is actively influenced by the relationships individuals develop with their healthcare professionals, and by changes during their lives, is supported by Brinkley-Rubenstein et al [ 32 ]. They maintain that HL should be conceptualized and operationalized as a process rather than a static situation where knowledge is given from healthcare professional to the patient.…”