The urgent need to address health literacy in schools

Okan, Orkan; Paakkari, Leena; Jourdan, Didier; Barnekow, Vivian; Weber, Martin

doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(23)00104-6

Cited by 15 publications

(18 citation statements)

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“…Health literacy is a modifiable social determinant of health and is influenced by local – as well as national, institutional and cultural – social inequities such as housing, environmental pollution, policing and schooling. An approach to health literacy in schools that is built on student and community resources may address the connection between health literacy and health education (Okan et al, 2020) and could form a natural bridge between health and education more broadly (Paakkari and Okan, 2019). Therefore, the interplay between health literacy and health education merits further investigation.…”

Section: Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Health Literacymentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing health literacy events: a case study of teachers designing health curricula

Rumenapp

Troiano

Adams

et al. 2023

Health Education Journal

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Objective: In response to the question ‘how can teachers develop health literacy events that leverage students’ cultural and linguistic resources’, this study highlights how two teachers developed a culturally and linguistically responsive curriculum that sought to promote health literacy. Design: The study details findings from a larger partnership between an urban university and a bilingual urban school in the USA. Researchers and teachers conducted a year-long project oriented towards co-designing a curriculum that integrated students’ cultural and linguistic repertoires with health literacy. Over one academic year, teachers planned, implemented, studied and modified curricular units that drew on students’ cultural and linguistic resources related to health. Setting: The study focuses on two Spanish-English bilingual teachers working in a third-grade (8–9 year olds) dual-language classroom in a multilingual urban community in the midwestern USA. Method: Data collected included classroom conversations, teacher-researcher and university researcher conversations, classroom work and teacher-derived analytic documents. Data were coded and analysed to understand how teachers made sense of what happened within specific health literacy events to develop a single descriptive case study. Results: Three events are focused on demonstrating how teachers developed health literacy by building on students’ pre-existing cultural and linguistic resources. Teachers moved from using teacher-centred forms of nutrition education to using student-developed health content that articulated with health concerns in the community. Conclusion: Using a funds of knowledge approach to integrating health literacy into the curriculum, teachers helped students draw on cultural and linguistic resources, building self-confidence, and developing an interest in gathering evidence and presenting health-related findings.

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Section: Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Health Literacymentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing health literacy events: a case study of teachers designing health curricula

Rumenapp

Troiano

Adams

et al. 2023

Health Education Journal

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“…However, most existing studies focus on personal health literacy in adults, neglecting the role of health literacy environment, which is an integral part of understanding health literacy in its fullest sense. This is more so true when it comes to children and adolescents and settings relevant to their health and health literacy (15)(16)(17). Addressing this issue requires to take into account certain professionals working in school such as teachers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They are uniquely positioned to deliver health education, equipping children with essential health knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours. In addition, they often engage with parents and communities (16), creating a holistic approach to developing children's health literacy that extends beyond the classroom. Understanding health literacy of teachers is of paramount importance as it not only influences their own health and well-being, but also influences the way they provide health education and promotion programs, thus impacting children's health literacy (18).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are personal health literacy and school health literacy environment important to schoolteachers’ health outcomes?

Liu,

Yu,

Zhao

et al. 2024

Preprint

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BackgroundWhile the relationship between an individual’s personal health literacy and health outcomes is well-established, the role of the health literacy environment is often overlooked. This study aimed to examine the associations of personal health literacy and the school health literacy environment with health outcomes among schoolteachers.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in 11 schools in Zhengzhou, Henan, China. Using a self-administered questionnaire, teachers (N=7364) were surveyed collecting data on their sociodemographics, personal health literacy, the school health literacy environment, and four types of health outcomes (health status, health-compromising behaviours, health service use, and healthcare cost). Besides descriptive statistics, a series of logistic regression analyses were conducted.ResultsOverall, more than half of teachers (56.9%) had inadequate or problematic health literacy, while more than three-fifths (69.0%) perceived their school health literacy environment was less supportive. Teachers with inadequate health literacy had higher odds of poor health status (odds ratio (OR)=5.79, 95% CI=3.84, 8.73), at least one health-compromising behaviour (OR=2.90, 95% CI=2.29, 3.68), at least one health service use (OR=2.73, 95% CI=2.07, 3.61), and more healthcare cost (OR=2.51, 95% CI=2.00, 3.16) than those with excellent health literacy, after adjusting for sociodemographics and school health literacy environment. Similarly, teachers who perceived low levels of supportive school health literacy environment had higher odds of poor health outcomes (ORs ranging from 1.13 to 1.78), after adjusting for sociodemographics and personal health literacy.ConclusionBoth personal health literacy and school health literacy environment are important to schoolteachers’ health outcomes. Educational programs and organisational change are needed to improve personal health literacy and school environments to improve teachers’ health and well-being.

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“…An infodemic may be defined as a vast overflow of information within digital and physical environments, including false, misleading and unreliable messages that can induce fear, confusion and mistrust in public health authority among citizens, including children and young people (Eysenbach, 2020). This infodemic highlighted the need for schools to engage in the development of health literacy -that is, the ability to identify, obtain, critically assess and utilise information to make health-related decisions (Okan et al, 2020b(Okan et al, , 2021. Again, school leaders carry the primary responsibility for creating organisational conditions that fostered the development of health literacy among teachers and other school staff, and for the school's efforts to integrate health literacy as an educational goal (Carlsson, 2022;Okan et al, 2020a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationships between COVID-related health literacy, mental health and workload of school leaders

Kristensen,

Dadaczynski,

Okan

et al. 2023

Health Education Journal

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Objective: Studies have shown that school leaders’ health literacy is key to supporting health development in school. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of school leaders’ health literacy became evident, as school leadership was characterised with uncertainty and demanded high levels of alertness to the need to implement rapidly changing health-related measures at short notice. This study sought to explore school leaders’ health literacy, mental health and work-related characteristics in Danish public primary and lower secondary schools during the pandemic. Methods: Selecting schools from the national Danish register of institutions a sample of 220 complete responses was achieved in a cross-sectional survey. School leaders or a member of the school management team completed a self-administered version of the COVID-HL: School Principals Survey, which assessed health literacy, three domains of mental health, sense of coherence and workload. Data were analysed using chi-square tests and logistic regression. Results: The majority of school leaders (71.4%) demonstrated a sufficient level of health literacy. However, there was a significant difference in workload increase between those with sufficient (66.0%) and insufficient (81.6%) health literacy. A high general workload was associated with lower well-being, while an increase in workload during the COVID-19 pandemic was linked to psychosomatic complaints. Sense of coherence explained variations in well-being, emotional exhaustion and psychosomatic complaints. Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of enhancing the health literacy of Danish school leaders, enabling them to deal effectively with complex health-related information and make informed decisions during health crises. Strengthening health literacy is crucial to promoting overall health and well-being in schools under normal circumstances, as well as navigating health crises.

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The urgent need to address health literacy in schools

Cited by 15 publications

References 1 publication

Developing health literacy events: a case study of teachers designing health curricula

Developing health literacy events: a case study of teachers designing health curricula

Are personal health literacy and school health literacy environment important to schoolteachers’ health outcomes?

Relationships between COVID-related health literacy, mental health and workload of school leaders

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