A Multilingual Integrative Review of Health Literacy in Former Soviet Union, Russian-Speaking Immigrants.

Uliana Kostareva,Patricia Polansky,Tetine L Sentell,Cheryl L Albright,Patricia Polansky,Deborah E Kadish,Luba L Ivanov,Eva-Maria Berens

doi:10.3390/ijerph18020657

Abstract

Large diasporas of former Soviet Union (FSU) immigrants are found in the USA, Germany, and Israel. To synthesize evidence, identify limitations, and propose future directions we conducted an integrative review on the health literacy of FSU immigrants, migrants, or refugees in four languages. Following integrative review and PRISMA guidelines, we searched four databases in English and performed supplementary searches in Russian, German, and Hebrew to identify qualitative and quantitative studies on FSU immigrants and health literacy. Six articles met inclusion criteria in English and one in German; the majority were published in the last five years. Only two articles measured health literacy of FSU immigrants, which was lower than the general population. Four articles were about immigrants with a mean age ≥50 years. All articles stressed the value of translated, culturally relevant health information. The health literacy of FSU immigrants is understudied, despite clear needs. Future research should include assessments of FSU immigrants’ health literacy and include diverse (e.g., age, gender) yet well-defined populations to determine both barriers and facilitators to their health literacy. This review, an example of a multilingual search, provided a comprehensive understanding of existing literature and is a useful approach for global health literacy research.

Highlights

Introduction nal affiliationsInternationally, health literacy is an important predictor of health [1]
In the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which international movement has contributed to the spread of the disease and challenged containment and management of outbreaks, there is a clear need for immigrant-friendly health information that is available in multiple languages, accessible, accurate, and easy to understand and act upon [20,21]
We focus on the Russian-speaking former Soviet Union (FSU) immigrants because Russian is the most common language spoken across 15 FSU republics [28,38]

Summary

Introduction

Introduction nal affiliationsInternationally, health literacy is an important predictor of health [1]. The definition of personal health literacy has been recently updated by the American Healthy People 2030 goals as “the degree to which individuals have the ability to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others” [2]. Limited health literacy has been linked to outcomes including poorer health status, increased risk of hospitalization, and higher health care expenses [6,7,8,9,10,11]. Individual factors such as migration status, language proficiency, and socioeconomic factors across multiple countries play a role in health literacy. In the United States of America (USA), low

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