A Concept Analysis of "Health Literacy"-Focusing on Participants in Health Education Classes at Health Centers

Abstract

In order to develop a health literacy measurement scale, this study aimed to identify the concept of health literacy based on a Hybrid Model of concept analysis. A review of health literacy literature was conducted and participant observation was performed in 5 health education classes for adults in health center settings. Finally, the literature review findings and fieldwork findings were integrated. From the integrated findings, Functional, Interactive, and Critical categories of health literacy were identified. Functional health literacy consists of 1 stage, "reading and writing, numeracy." The 4 stages of Interactive health literacy are "acquisition," "perception, recognition, and comprehension," "analysis, selection, and evaluation," and "utilization." The 2 stages of Critical health literacy are "application" and "offer to others." Some persons studied new technical terms and acquired new information in order to apply and offer others the wisdom. Therefore, these 7 stages of health literacy followed a cyclical improvement process. Factors such as conversations with others, health education programs involving goal setting and problem solving, and physical fitness testing and body measurement facilitated the improvement of health literacy. As each health literacy stage agrees with a health learning theory, present finding is useful for measuring the effects of education programs. The findings of this study will facilitate the development of a measurement scale for health literacy in clinical settings.