Health literacy and adherence to psychiatric appointments: Study of an urban academic center

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 553-553
Author(s):  
A. Bizamcer ◽  
K. MacIntyre

IntroductionHealth literacy (HL) measures the ability of an individual to use health-related information in order to make appropriate health-related decisions and to navigate the healthcare system. It influences a variety of behaviors such as breastfeeding, medication adherence, or the use of screening tests. Research has shown that it is related to the treatment outcome of conditions such as HIV and diabetes.ObjectiveIt is the assumption of this study that health literacy also plays a role in psychiatric patients’ adherence to treatment; in particular, to outpatient psychiatric appointments.AimsWe hypothesized that patients with different health literacy levels would have different adherence rates to outpatient psychiatric appointments.MethodsThe study was conducted in 2006 in the Outpatient Psychiatry Department (OPD) of Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. All English and Spanish-speaking patients of the OPD (potential N = 150) were invited to complete the short version of the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (sTOFHLA), yielding three HL groups: adequate, marginal and inadequate. We explored the demographic and clinical correlates of HL and compared the three literacy groups with respect to their adherence to appointments during a 12-month period.ResultsOur study showed that, for our patient population, HL was not significantly related to any of the demographic and clinical variables included in our analysis except appointment adherence.ConclusionPatients with lower HL had lower adherence to appointments. These findings invite further research to explore the significance of HL.

Author(s):  
Adèle Perrin ◽  
Luiza Siqueira do Prado ◽  
Amélie Duché ◽  
Anne-Marie Schott ◽  
Alexandra L. Dima ◽  
...  

Person-centered care has led healthcare professionals (HCPs) to be more attentive to patients’ ability to understand and apply health-related information, especially those with chronic conditions. The concept of health literacy (HL) is essential in understanding patients’ needs in routine care, but its measurement is still controversial, and few tools are validated in French. We therefore considered the brief health literacy screen (BHLS) for assessing patient-reported HL in chronic care settings, and also developed an HCP-reported version of the BHLS with the aim of using it as a research instrument to assess HCPs’ evaluation of patients’ HL levels. We assessed the content validity of the French translation of both the patient-reported and HCP-reported BHLS in chronic care within hospital settings, through cognitive interviews with patients and HCPs. We performed qualitative analysis on interview data using the survey response Tourangeau model. Our results show that the BHLS is easy and quick to administer, but some terms need to be adapted to the French chronic care settings. Health-related information was observed to be mainly communicated orally, hence a useful direction for future literacy measures would be to also address verbal HL.


Author(s):  
Elke Knisel ◽  
Helge Rupprich ◽  
Annika Wunram ◽  
Markus Bremer ◽  
Christiane Desaive

Health literacy is an important outcome of the discussion of school-related health education and health promotion in the 21st century. Although the improvement of health literacy at an early age is increasingly recognized and few interventions show the development of children´s health literacy, still there is little research in this area. The purpose of the study was to examine the enhancement of health literacy among children in a physical activity-based program at elementary school. In total, 137 students aged 6–12 years participated in the program, which included health knowledge transfer in child-appropriate games and exercises. Participants´ health literacy was assessed using the HLS-Child-Q15-DE at the beginning and the end of the program. The instrument measures the access, understanding, appraisal and application of health-related information on a four-point Likert-type scale. As expected, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test revealed significant increases in self-reported health literacy over time. The results show that the degree of change in health literacy was not associated with gender or age. The results suggest that the physical activity-based program has the potential to improve elementary school children´s health literacy, even though in a single group pilot study.


2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (Supplement_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
F Samkange-Zeeb ◽  
H Singh ◽  
M Lakeberg ◽  
J Kolschen ◽  
B Schüz ◽  
...  

Abstract   Disadvantaged populations, including unemployed adults, often exhibit low levels of health literacy. Exploring subjectively perceived health literacy needs in these populations can serve as an entry point for participatory intervention development. We aimed to assess health literacy needs of unemployed adults by triangulating qualitative interviews data and a scoping review. Using a parallel approach, we combined results of an interview study with 10 participants of a job-reintegration program in Germany and a scoping review. The interviews, conducted in early 2021, focused on health topics of interest to the participants and their sources of health-related information. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. For the scoping review, we searched MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycInfo and SCOPUS up to January 2021 for studies containing “unemployed” AND “health literacy” in titles/abstracts. Study selection and data extraction were done independently by two researchers. Nutrition and physical activity emerged as core themes during the interviews, with some participants referring to the importance of both for mental health. Doctors and the institution running the job-reintegration program were the sources of health-related information often mentioned. The Corona pandemic was reported to have limited physical activity and affected psycho-social well-being. Five out of 2696 studies were included in the review. Four focused on mental health literacy, the fifth assessed information seeking practices in unemployed adults. The qualitative analysis revealed that health literacy needs of unemployed adults go beyond mental health literacy. As nutrition and physical activity impact mental health, interventions targeting such topics might also improve mental health literacy in unemployed adults. Study findings will be discussed with unemployed persons and social workers in co-production workshops that aim to identify and prioritize health literacy needs for intervention development. Key messages Health literacy programs for unemployed adults should target nutrition and physical activity. Workforce re-integration programs play a pivotal role in improving health literacy of unemployed adults.


Author(s):  
Aslıhan Ardıç Çobaner ◽  
Beste Sultan Gülgün

Increasing prevalence of chronic diseases and ageing population necessitate access to accurate health information for better health. The internet and social media affect and transform the communication of health-related information. Online platforms are enabling patients and patient groups to find common ground to discuss their health and diseases. Focusing on disease/patient group sites, this chapter investigates these sites through analyzing their features, inclusion of social and economic determinants of health in their contents, and level of critical health literacy calling for decision and action. Furthermore, these sites and their organization structures are analyzed by netnography. The findings show that disease/patient sites on Facebook are highly benefitted as an information and experience sharing platform. However, the critical health literacy level of the contents is quite low. Therefore, the role of social media as an improvement area for critical health literacy in health communication is getting more important.


Author(s):  
Aslıhan Ardıç Çobaner ◽  
Beste Sultan Gülgün

Increasing prevalence of chronic diseases and ageing population necessitate access to accurate health information for better health. The internet and social media affect and transform the communication of health-related information. Online platforms are enabling patients and patient groups to find common ground to discuss their health and diseases. Focusing on disease/patient group sites, this chapter investigates these sites through analyzing their features, inclusion of social and economic determinants of health in their contents, and level of critical health literacy calling for decision and action. Furthermore, these sites and their organization structures are analyzed by netnography. The findings show that disease/patient sites on Facebook are highly benefitted as an information and experience sharing platform. However, the critical health literacy level of the contents is quite low. Therefore, the role of social media as an improvement area for critical health literacy in health communication is getting more important.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 118-125
Author(s):  
Andrea Kozai ◽  
Jatin P. Ambegaonkar

Dancers have unique health issues, including high injury rates and functional, nutritional, and psychological concerns. Thererfore, developing dancers with high health literacy is crucial. This study examines 1. the types of health-related information offered in university dance programs, and 2. the perceptions of dance stakeholders (administrators, faculty, and students) toward health-related education provided to dancers in these programs. Participating stakeholders (N = 104) from 11 countries completed a web-based survey examining health-related offerings for dance students at their instituitions. Eighty-four participants (81%) indicated that health-related information was delivered at their instituition. The most commonly offered topics included functional dance anatomy (N = 82, 98%), recognizing dance injuries and illnesses (N = 66, 79%), and strength and conditioning for dancers (N = 61, 73%). Participants rated recognizing dance injuries and illnesses (N = 72, 69%), basic personal health (N = 70, 67%), and nutrition (N = 68, 65%) as the top three "extremely important" topics, even if these were not offered at their institution. Faculty and administrators reported similar attitudes toward topic importance as those reported by students. Fifty-five respondents (65%) reported textbooks were used to deliver health-related information, and content was also provided via journal articles (N = 58, 69%), organizational web sites (N = 39, 46%), and social media (N = 16, 19%). Reported barriers to providing adequate education included lack of dance faculty expertise to deliver course content (N = 7) and receiving care from practitioners lacking in knowledge of dance medicine (N = 5). Participants generally agreed that making health-related information available was important, and 81% of respondants indicated that it was formally offered at their institution. Variability was noted regarding topics rated "highly important," as compared to which topics were already provided. These findings offer insight into the current status of health-related education provided to dance students and can be used to improve curricula in university dance programs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (114) ◽  
Author(s):  
Renata Rutkauskaitė ◽  
Konsta Kuusinen

Background. The aim of the study was to identify links between health literacy, health information literacy and physical activity as well as body mass index in adolescents.Methods. The study was carried out from September till the end of November, 2018. Research participants were 167 14–18-year-old students from Kaunas, Klaipeda and Vilnius (n = 107 females, n = 60 males). Participants were asked to fill in an anonymous online questionnaire, which consisted of basic demographics, physical activity, health information literacy and health literacy. Adolescents’ body mass index was calculated using ISO-BMI calculations. Physical activity was assessed by Petronytė’s physical activity questionnaire. To determine adolescents’ everyday health information literacy, we used self-assessed 10-item screening tool (EHIL-10) and to determine health literacy, we used Newest Vital Sign (NVS) screening test. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 23.0 program for Windows.Results. Health literacy did not have association with body mass index or the level of physical activity. Health literacy scores gave important data of the level of health literacy. The scores indicated that 21.6% of Lithuanian adolescents had adequate level of health literacy. It was found that age correlated positively with health literacy. Self-assessed everyday health information literacy was higher since 85% of the students had medium high or high level of health information literacy. The data revealed that adolescents were not sure where they could find health related information and who they could trust in health-related issues. For males, finding health information and knowing who they could trust in health issues was easier than for females. Health information literacy did not have association with ISO-BMI. Sufficient evaluation of health-related information was higher among normally weighted adolescents. Physically active students had higher health information literacy and participation in sports club activities had positive relation with better health information literacy. Additionally, involvement in organized activities associated with superior understanding of terms and sentences of health information. Evaluation of health information was higher among those who were actively involved in organized physical activities.Conclusions. Health information literacy did not have association with ISO-BMI. Those, who were involved in sports club activities or were more actively involved in organized physical activities had better health information literacy and evaluation of health information. Nevertheless, there was no connection between health literacy and physical activity. Keywords: health literacy, health information literacy, physical activity, body mass index.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilija Moric ◽  
Sanja Pekovic ◽  
Jelena Jovanovic

Abstract Background : The present study extends understanding of digital health literacy by exploring issues that clarify how and when sport-physical activities enhance digital health literacy measured by four types of health-related information searched on the Internet i.e., general health information, information on a specific injury or condition, specific information on a medical treatment or procedure and information regarding second opinion after visiting a doctor. Methods: We employ Tobit model on the large European data (N=5,318). Results: We find support for direct relation between sport-physical activities and digital health literacy. In addition, we find that the effect of sport-physical activities on digital health literacy is reversed when interacted with age. Conclusion: This evidence is consistent with the view that sport-physical activities can be considered as an important tool for digital health literacy improvement but only under certain socio-demographic characteristics.


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