Children as active participants in health literacy research and practice? From rhetoric to rights

Abstract

This chapter highlights recent developments in health literacy research in childhood and adolescence. It draws on the debates framed in the social studies of childhood and feminist approaches to research in order to critically consider contemporary child health literacy research. Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) states: ‘children have the right to good quality healthcare – the best healthcare possible – to safe drinking water, nutritious food, a clean and safe environment, and information to help them stay healthy’ (UNICEF, 2004). This chapter considers health literacy approaches to research in childhood and adolescence, and considers their appropriateness from a rights-based perspective. It also highlights the important role of Article 12 UNCRC (UNICEF, 2004) – that children have the right to be listened to and have their views respected – to argue that there is a significant dearth of children’s voices in health literacy research, which urgently needs to be addressed: ‘Despite the potential for children to make meaningful contributions to research, many projects continue to displace children on the basis of inferiority, dependence and vulnerability’ (Velardo and Drummond, 2017, p 7). Much of the research in the health literacy arena is adult-centred, and this chapter explores methodologies that confront the dominance of scientific positivistic approaches. We argue that there needs to be a conceptual shift away from simplistic research approaches that attempt to measure health literacy towards rights-based research approaches in order to improve understanding of health literacy in childhood and to challenge issues of power relations, tokenism and adultist agenda-setting.