Opportunities for Nurses to Increase Parental Health Literacy: A Discussion Paper

Abstract

Most families can access a range of health information and advice. Information and advice sources often include nurses, the Internet, social media, books, as well as family and friends. While the immediate aim may be to find information, it can also be to assist with parenting skills, solve parenting problems or as part of decision-making processes about their child's health. These processes are strongly influenced by the parent's level of health literacy. Health literacy describes a person's capacity to obtain and utilize health related information. Although there are numerous health literacy definitions all have clearly defined steps. These steps are: obtaining relevant information; then understanding this information; and finally being able to use the information to achieve the expected outcome. Previous research has linked low levels of parental health literacy with poorer child health outcomes. Given this link, increasing health literacy levels would be advantageous for both families and health services. Nurses working with families are in a position to support the family to increase their health literacy through the use of a variety of strategies. This article outlines how health literacy can influence the way parents seek help when they are concerned about child health issues, the relevance of parental health literacy for nurses and suggests some tools that could be used to support the increase of health literacy.

Parental health literacy and health knowledge, behaviours and outcomes in children: a cross-sectional survey

“…Parents with young children represent a critical subgroup among the general adult population since they are not only responsible for their own life and health but as parents and caregivers they are also responsible for the health and wellbeing of their children. Children are dependent on their parents to prevent and address health problems and they may suffer when their parents' knowledge and skills to fulfil these tasks is insufficient [4,5]. A study by Sanders et al [6] describes parental literacy as an important moderator of child health disparities.…”

Embedding a Health Literacy Intervention Within Established Parenting Groups: An Australian Feasibility Study

“…The postnatal period may represent a more appropriate stage to intervene to improve the health literacy of parents (Johnston, Fowler, Wilson, & Kelly, 2015). Both need and motivation are high, contact with the health system is considerable, and large benefits may be achieved for both the parent and the child.…”

“…During this time, parents must acquire a large amount of new health knowledge and new skills but are often faced with information of variable quality that can be contradictory (Joury et al, 2018;Wiley, Steffens, Berry, & Leask, 2017). Postnatal parenting groups have been identified as an ideal setting to support the health literacy development of new parents (Johnston et al, 2015). Postnatal parenting groups are offered in countries globally (e.g., Rockers et al, 2018;Westminster City Council, 2018).…”

“…They are also offered by community-based organizations. Together, these services have a broad reach and are regularly accessed by most families with infants age 0 to 11 months (Johnston et al, 2015). However, there are currently no widely applied guidelines or standards for postnatal education, and classes vary in length, instructor training, sponsorship, goals, focus, and content.…”

Analyzing asthma education and clinical practices to optimize parental health literacy: Gap analysis

“…Children, for example, are greatly influenced by their parents and surrounding environments (Maggi et al, 2010). Children learn how to navigate the healthcare system, and access information based on how their parents model these behaviours (Johnston et al, 2015). If parents are active participants in their own health, children are more likely to be as well and then pass this learned behaviour onto the next generation (Maggi et al, 2010;Neill et al, 2014).…”