The Value of Community Health Literacy Assessments: Health Literacy in Maryland

Abstract

Objective Community health assessments have typically not measured health literacy at the community level. We developed the Community Health Literacy Assessment (CHLA) framework to describe county and regional health literacy activities, assets, gaps, and opportunities in Maryland. Methods We implemented the CHLA framework in Maryland from January to August 2018. We conducted an environmental scan of Maryland’s 24 counties to identify community resources, health indicators, and organizations. We targeted local health improvement coalitions and health departments for interviews in each county. We conducted qualitative interviews to understand what key community organizations throughout Maryland are doing to implement health literacy best practices and policies. We used summative content analysis to review, quantify, and interpret interview data. Results We conducted 57 interviews with participants from 56 organizations representing all 24 counties in Maryland. We captured data on multiple dimensions of health literacy and identified 3 main themes: health literacy assets and activities, health literacy gaps, and health literacy opportunities. The most cited asset was collecting data to inform health literacy practices, the most cited gap was using jargon with community members, and the most cited opportunity was increasing public awareness of existing health programs through improved outreach and teaching health information–seeking behaviors. Conclusion A systematic community health literacy assessment is a feasible way to collect a large amount of health literacy data, which can inform strategic planning, determine community interventions, and ultimately lead us toward a health-literate society. We recommend that others replicate the CHLA framework to operationalize health literacy as a health indicator and include it as a community health assessment measure.

Association between cultural capital and health literacy during the COVID-19 pandemic among community residents in China: the mediating effect of social capital

“…Specifically, in the structural social capital dimension, community participation has statistically significant associations with health literacy, because being active in the community increases access to sources of crucial health-related information (35), which can increase health promotion options during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to some research, people who are more involved in community activities can gain more health information from interactions with other residents and community health promotion, thus improving their health literacy (60,61). Communities and neighborhoods with high levels of social cohesion frequently have inbuilt control mechanisms that promote health and keep residents from engaging in behaviors that are harmful to their health (62).…”