Health Literacy of People with Intellectual Disabilities: How Meaningful Is the Social Context for a Target Group-Oriented Model of Health Literacy?

Abstract

Health literacy is primarily understood as an individual construct. People with intellectual disabilities still seem to be a “hidden” population in health literacy research. A target-orientated health literacy approach for this population is needed for developing precise and effective interventions that consider social context dimensions. Therefore, the following research question was answered: Which dimensions influence the health literacy of people with intellectual disabilities? A secondary data analysis containing 38 guided interviews with people with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities was conducted. The analysis followed the content analysis by Schreier (2012). Six main dimensions were inductively outlined, which are “interpersonal relationship”, “organizations and communities”, “healthcare system”, “education”, “digital interaction spaces”, “politics”, and “cultural contexts”. All these dimensions influence people with intellectual disabilities on an individual level regarding their level of health literacy. The importance of these single dimensions becomes clear, although for now, the link between all these dimensions is not yet considered. In future research, the focus should be on how to develop interventions considering social context dimensions. Furthermore, analyzing the connection between those dimensions seems promising.

Interventions to reduce falls in community‐dwelling adults with intellectual disability: a systematic review

“…Recent research has highlighted factors influencing health literacy for people with intellectual disability (Vetter et al . 2022) and identified approaches to improving health literacy for this population (e.g. modification of communication strategies, utilising multi‐modal methods), family and support workers (Latteck and Bruland 2020; Dam et al .…”

An Introduction to Health Literacy and Social Contexts with Recommendations for Health Professionals and Researchers

“…Studies highlighted in this Special Issue intersect with a broad diversity of research traditions on health literacy and social contexts. Vetter et al's (2022) [49] work contributed to the research tradition focused on defining health literacy in social contexts and did so for individuals with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities in Germany. Using 38 guided interviews, they found that health literacy is defined and shaped by multiple levels of social context, including educational settings, interpersonal relationships, organizational and social structures, the healthcare system, politics, cultural contexts, and digital interaction spaces.…”

A mixed‐method systematic literature review of health literacy interventions for people with disabilities

“…Given the strong evidence that health literacy leads to better healthcare outcomes, the health literacy field has continued to explore the health literacy of people with disabilities including people with intellectual disabilities (Geukes et al, 2019; Vetter et al, 2022), visual disabilities (Fortuna, 2021; Harrison et al, 2012; Schwennesen et al, 2019) and hearing disabilities (Gur et al, 2020). Literature reviews have also been conducted on the health literacy of people with disabilities, but they have mostly focused on a particular disability or on exploring issues related to health literacy (Beverley et al, 2004; Chinn, 2017; Geukes et al, 2019; Harrison et al, 2010; Mastebroek et al, 2014; Turnbull et al, 2022; Vetter et al, 2021).…”

“…Given the strong evidence that health literacy leads to better healthcare outcomes, the health literacy field has continued to explore the health literacy of people with disabilities including people with intellectual disabilities (Geukes et al, 2019;Vetter et al, 2022), visual disabilities (Fortuna, 2021;Harrison et al, 2012;Schwennesen et al, 2019) and hearing disabilities (Gur et al, 2020).…”