Health literacy: new wine in old bottles?

Tones, Keith

doi:10.1093/her/17.3.287

Cited by 91 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…2,3 In fact, health education deeply affects the functioning of the healthcare system. In particular, it encourages patient involvement in the provision of care, thus enhancing both the appropriateness and equity of services provided.…”

Section: Simondsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Discussing the Effects of Poor Health Literacy on Patients Facing HIV: A Narrative Literature Review

Palumbo

2015

Int J Health Policy Manag

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Background: Scholars describe poor health literacy as a "silent epidemic, " which is challenging the functioning of healthcare systems all over the world. Health literacy is mainly meant as an individual trait which concerns the ability to obtain, process, and understand basic health information in order to effectively navigate the health system. Low health literate patients perceive poor self-efficacy dealing with their health conditions, are not willing to be involved in the provision of care, show larger risks of hospitalization and mortality, and are not aware about the determinants of well-being. Hence, limited health literacy has been associated with inadequate management of long-term conditions; nonetheless, several authors argue that health literacy has been an overlooked factor dealing with HIV. Methods: This study is aimed at discussing the effects of poor health literacy on people living with HIV, drawing from the findings of a narrative literature review which involved 41 papers retrieved from the databases "Scopus-Elsevier" and "PubMed. " Results: The scientific literature is not consistent dealing with the relationship between health literacy and HIV treatment. For example, health literate patients seem to better understand their health conditions; on the other hand, people living with poor health literacy are likely to report higher compliance with providers' prescriptions, blindly trusting healthcare professionals. Conclusions: Poor health literacy is a social barrier to access healthcare services and to appropriate health treatment among patients living with HIV. Tailored interventions should be aimed at enhancing the health skills of patients affected by HIV infection to improve their ability to navigate the health system.

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Section: Simondsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Discussing the Effects of Poor Health Literacy on Patients Facing HIV: A Narrative Literature Review

Palumbo

2015

Int J Health Policy Manag

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“…There are many arguments favouring a broader definition of health literacy (see Abel, 2008: Nutbeam, 2008Stewart et al, 2008;Zarcadoolas et al, 2005), although critical voices have also been raised (Tones, 2002). The need to extend the conception comes into special focus when we move from health care or clinical settings to health promotion settings, since -as noted by Abel (2008) -the health promotion field emphasizes broader perspectives, such as general living conditions and individuals' possibilities to live in a healthy way.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Defining different components of health literacy as having differing degrees of complexity has value from an educational point of view; yet the actual definition of the factors, which might constitute health literacy, remains more or less implicit (see also Tones, 2002). If we aim to develop individuals' health literacy towards a more advanced level, we need to be clear about what we really intend to develop.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health literacy as a learning outcome in schools

2012

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PurposeTo define health literacy as a learning outcome in schools, and to describe the learning conditions that are relevant for targeting health literacy. Design/methodology/approachThis paper draws on theoretical and empirical educational literature, and also the experiences of the authors. FindingsHealth literacy is defined as consisting of five core components: (1) theoretical knowledge, (2) practical knowledge, (3) critical thinking, (4) self-awareness, and (5) citizenship. The first three components are rather similar to the commonly-accepted health literacy concept, but the definition given in this paper expands the concept via two additional -but essential -components. It is emphasized that when one is aiming to develop students' internal capacity to construct their own meanings regarding health topics, these two additional components are called for. We argue that one of the main aims of health teaching in schools should be to foster students' ability to define their own beliefs, identity and social relations. Moreover, if we wish students to become responsible citizens, acting in an ethically responsible way, competencies such as ethical reflection skills should be developed in schools. We also highlight the fact that the development of certain health literacy components calls for particular kinds of learning conditions. Originality/value2 The paper identifies the core components of health literacy as a learning outcome and gives practical examples of means to achieve a particular target.

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“…Greater value may be found in assessing HL beyond the functional level to explore barriers in selfmanagement for patients with diabetes, including the abilities to extract, communicate, critically analyze, and use health information, and to participate in their care and promote their health. Although some of these components have been studied under different labels, such as social interaction skills or problem-solving skills (21), no validated instrument has been created to specifically assess a skill set in dealing with health information. Furthermore, an adequate level of HL would vary depending on the demands placed on patients by their social environments, including health care providers, health care systems, the media, and the community (22).…”

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confidence: 99%

Measuring Functional, Communicative, and Critical Health Literacy Among Diabetic Patients

Ishikawa

Takeuchi²,

Yano³

2008

Diabetes Care

424

360

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OBJECTIVE -Health literacy (HL), the capacity of individuals to access, understand, and use health information to make informed and appropriate health-related decisions, has been recognized as an important concept in patient education and disease management. This study examined the psychometric properties of newly developed scales for measuring three different levels of HL (i.e., functional, communicative, and critical) in patients with diabetes.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS -The reliability and validity of the three HL scales were evaluated in a sample of 138 outpatients with type 2 diabetes. In addition, sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, knowledge of diabetes, information-seeking behaviors, and self-efficacy were assessed for each patient through a self-report questionnaire and review of electronic medical records.RESULTS -Scale items were constructed to directly reflect the definition of HL. Internal consistency of functional, communicative, and critical HL scales was adequately high (␣ ϭ 0.84, ␣ ϭ 0.77, and ␣ ϭ 0.65, respectively). Three interpretable factors were identified in exploratory factor analysis. Correlations between HL scales and other measures supported the construct validity of the scales. The three HL scales were only moderately correlated with each other, suggesting that each represents a different domain of HL abilities and skills.CONCLUSIONS -Our newly developed HL scales are reliable and valid measures of three types of HL in diabetic patients. Exploring a patient's HL levels may provide a better understanding of the patient's potential barriers to self-management of disease and health-promoting behaviors. Diabetes Care 31:874-879, 2008O ver the past few decades, patient participation in the health care process has been recognized as a critical determinant of successful disease management. This is especially true for diabetes, which requires extensive, ongoing patient self-care. Health information is an important resource for helping patients understand and engage in the management of a health condition. Although physicians have historically been the primary source of health and medical information, other sources are becoming more available to the general public with the increase in media reports and rapid diffusion of information via the Internet (1-4). Thus, a patient's skills in understanding and applying information about health issues may have a substantial impact on his/ her behavior and health (5). These skills have recently been conceptualized as health literacy (HL).The National Library of Medicine refers to HL as "the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions" (6). Similarly, the World Health Organization defines HL as "the cognitive and social skills which determine the motivation and ability of individuals to gain access to, understand, and use information in ways which promote and maintain good health" (7). Based on this premise, Nutbeam (8) propos...

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Health literacy: new wine in old bottles?

Cited by 91 publications

References 11 publications

Discussing the Effects of Poor Health Literacy on Patients Facing HIV: A Narrative Literature Review

Discussing the Effects of Poor Health Literacy on Patients Facing HIV: A Narrative Literature Review

Health literacy as a learning outcome in schools

Measuring Functional, Communicative, and Critical Health Literacy Among Diabetic Patients

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