TY - JOUR A1 - Berens, Eva-Maria A1 - Vogt, Dominique A1 - Schaeffer, Doris A1 - Hurrelmann, Klaus A1 - Messer, Melanie T1 - Health literacy in old age: results of a German cross-sectional study JF - Health Promotion International KW - Health Literacy Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/dax012 SN - 0957-4824, 1460-2245 SP - 1 EP - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hurrelmann, Klaus A1 - Berens, Eva-Maria A1 - Vogt, Dominique A1 - Messer, Melanie A1 - Schaeffer, Doris T1 - Health literacy among different age groups in Germany : results of a cross-sectional survey JF - BMC Public Health N2 - BACKGROUND: Health literacy is of increasing importance in public health research. It is a necessary pre-condition for the involvement in decisions about health and health care and related to health outcomes. Knowledge about limited health literacy in different age groups is crucial to better target public health interventions for subgroups of the population. However, little is known about health literacy in Germany. The study therefore assesses the prevalence of limited health literacy and associated factors among different age groups. METHODS: The Health Literacy Survey Germany is a cross-sectional study with 2,000 participants aged 15 years or older in private households. Perceived health literacy was assessed via computer-assisted personal interviews using the HLS-EU-Q-47 questionnaire. Descriptive analyses, chi-square tests and odds ratios were performed stratified for different age groups. RESULTS: The population affected by limited perceived health literacy increases by age. Of the respondents aged 15-29 years, 47.3 % had limited perceived health literacy and 47.2 % of those aged 30-45 years, whereas 55.2 % of the respondents aged 46-64 years and 66.4 % aged 65 years and older showed limited perceived health literacy. In all age groups, limited perceived health literacy was associated with limited functional health literacy, low social status, and a high frequency of doctor visits. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest a need to further investigate perceived health literacy in all phases of the life-course. Particular attention should be devoted to persons with lower social status, limited functional health literacy and/or a high number of doctor visits in all age groups. KW - Health literacy KW - Socio-economic factors KW - Doctor visits KW - Germany KW - General population KW - Age groups KW - Survey KW - HLS-EU-Q Y1 - 2016 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-21428 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-3810-6 VL - 16 PB - Biomed Central ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Weishaar, Heide A1 - Hurrelmann, Klaus A1 - Okan, Orkan A1 - Horn, Annett A1 - Schaeffer, Doris T1 - Framing health literacy: A comparative analysis of national action plans JF - Health Policy N2 - Population and individual deficits in health literacy, and their associated negative health outcomes, have received growing attention in the political arena in recent years. In order to respond to the problem, several governments have adopted national action plans, which outline strategies to improve health literacy. Drawing on the action plans of the USA, Australia, Scotland, and Wales and applying Entman’s concept of framing, this paper analyses how health literacy debates are framed within the political arena as well as the factors that influence framing. Analysing data from policy documents and in-depth expert interviews, this paper identifies relevant frames developed to (i) define the problem of limited health literacy, (ii) provide causal explanations, (iii) rationalise why health literacy requires political action, and (iv) present solutions. The findings indicate that the malleability of the concept allows that a diversity of frames and solutions are promoted, yet risks that debates remain vague. Health literacy seems to have been successfully used to instigate political debates about health system reforms, patient empowerment, and shared decision making. The analysis suggests that health literacy might, if applied strategically, help to focus policy debates on key public health problems and the development of systemic solutions. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2018.11.012 SN - 0168-8510 VL - 123 IS - 1 SP - 11 EP - 20 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schaeffer, Doris A1 - Gille, Svea A1 - Hurrelmann, Klaus T1 - Implementation of the National Action Plan Health Literacy in Germany—Lessons Learned JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health KW - - KW - health literacy KW - national action plan KW - diffusion KW - dissemination KW - implementation KW - collaborative approach KW - Germany Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124403 SN - 1660-4601 VL - 17 IS - 12 PB - MDPI ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schaeffer, Doris A1 - Gille, Svea A1 - Vogt, Dominique A1 - Hurrelmann, Klaus T1 - National Action Plan Health Literacy in Germany origin, development and structure JF - Journal of Public Health N2 - Aim Health literacy has gained increasing importance worldwide. As a result of several studies indicating low health literacy levels in large parts of the population, strategies and action plans promoting health literacy were developed in many countries. The article analyses the origin, development and structure of the German Health Literacy Action Plan. Subject and methods In 2016, a civil society initiative was formed, aiming at developing a national action plan in an expert-based and collaborative manner. A group of 15 experts elaborated the core elements of the action plan, based on a literature review on existing health literacy approaches, action plans and empirical evidence. These core elements were further developed collaboratively in workshops with key stakeholders, self-help and patient organizations and individual consultation meetings. Afterwards, the National Action Plan was reviewed and previously formulated recommendations were refined before being published. Results and conclusion The National Action Plan Health Literacy in Germany presents 15 recommendations in four areas of action for promoting health literacy in Germany. This bottom-up strategy and the expert-based yet at the same time collaborative approach have proved to be successful when developing a national action plan. Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-021-01616-9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Okan, Orkan A1 - Bollweg, Torsten Michael A1 - Berens, Eva-Maria A1 - Hurrelmann, Klaus A1 - Bauer, Ullrich A1 - Schaeffer, Doris T1 - Coronavirus-Related Health Literacy: A Cross-Sectional Study in Adults during the COVID-19 Infodemic in Germany JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health N2 - There is an “infodemic” associated with the COVID-19 pandemic—an overabundance of valid and invalid information. Health literacy is the ability to access, understand, appraise, and apply health information, making it crucial for navigating coronavirus and COVID-19 information environments. A cross-sectional representative study of participants ≥ 16 years in Germany was conducted using an online survey. A coronavirus-related health literacy measure was developed (HLS-COVID-Q22). Internal consistency was very high (α = 0.940; ρ = 0.891) and construct validity suggests a sufficient model fit, making HLS-COVID-Q22 a feasible tool for assessing coronavirus-related health literacy in population surveys. While 49.9% of our sample had sufficient levels of coronavirus-related health literacy, 50.1% had “problematic” (15.2%) or “inadequate” (34.9%) levels. Although the overall level of health literacy is high, a vast number of participants report difficulties dealing with coronavirus and COVID-19 information. The participants felt well informed about coronavirus, but 47.8% reported having difficulties judging whether they could trust media information on COVID-19. Confusion about coronavirus information was significantly higher among those who had lower health literacy. This calls for targeted public information campaigns and promotion of population-based health literacy for better navigation of information environments during the infodemic, identification of disinformation, and decision-making based on reliable and trustworthy information. Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17155503 VL - 17 IS - 15 ER -