Health Literacy Studies Conducted in Australia: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Health literacy (HL) is an essential component of various literacies mentioned in the field of health and education, including cultural, technological, media and scientific literacies. It is important for motivating higher consumer engagement. We aimed to review previous studies of HL in Australia to inform future studies, extend current knowledge and further enhance HL. Using search strings, a systematic search of four databases (i.e., MEDLINE; Embase; CINAHL and Eric) was carried out. A Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) based search strategy led to identification of a total of N = 9696 records, that were further screened for inclusion in the review. The review findings were categorized into three major themes: (1) HL and health numeracy; (2) contrast of: knowledge deficiency, knowledge gained, problems of current health care system and (3) HL measurement methods and its domains. The findings from this scoping review show a dearth of measurement tools with sound psychometric properties for assessing HL. The findings also reveal low levels of HL in consumers which is in turn affecting health-related behaviors, utilization of health services and navigation of the health system. More recent developments have tried to integrate vital aspects, including introduction of applications to increase HL and exploring HL in Aboriginal communities.

Challenges in Navigating the Health Care System: Development of an Instrument Measuring Navigation Health Literacy

“…Therefore, it is all the more important to analyze the difficulties in navigation, and even more so the HL-NAV, necessary to better deal with it, in more detail. So far—as the literature analysis and comparable reviews on health literacy have shown [ 57 ]—this has been done only very cautiously.…”

A pilot study of adolescent health literacy research in Melbourne: Implementation and reflections

“…Evidence has shown that there is a social gradient in adolescent health literacy, 23,24 which in turn leads to health promotion outcomes. Adolescents with high health literacy levels are more likely to have health‐promoting behaviours, communicate effectively with health professionals, and perceive their health status as good 4,5,24 . Due to the small sample size, we did not test the reliability and validity of the three health literacy instruments and did not investigate the relationship between adolescent health literacy and health outcomes.…”

A systematic review of mental health literacy in Pakistan

“…An overall rating (from 0 to 1) was assigned to every study with higher numerical ratings indicating higher quality. This checklist had already been used in previous reviews to assess the quality of included studies (Choudhry et al, 2019; Munawar, Kuhn, & Haque, 2018; Wassenaar, Schouten, & Schoonhoven, 2014). The lowest quality rating of both the quantitative and qualitative studies included in this review was determined to be 0.55.…”