Health Literacy Among German Health Professionals-To-Be - Exploratory Pilot Study

Abstract

Health literacy is defined as the ability to collect, understand, evaluate and use health information. Previous studies have shown that the German population has only an average level of health literacy. Health professionals such as nurses, doctors or midwives need to be health literate themselves to promote patients' health literacy, as well as to protect and promote their own health. So far, there is a lack of research about health literacy among health professionals in Germany. The objective of this study was to assess the health literacy of health professionals. The study involved 583 participants from the final year classes of the DHBW Stuttgart and dual cooperation partners (vocational schools and academic teaching hospitals). These included graduates of nursing, midwifery and therapy (physiotherapy/logo-/occupational therapy), as well as management in health care and medical students in their practical year. The questionnaire HLS-EU-Q16 was used to record health literacy. By means of 16 questions, the participants rated on a 4-point scale how easy or difficult it was for them to find, understand, assess and implement health-related information. The study showed that only 30.1% of the participants had sufficient health literacy; 48.9% of the participants showed problematic health literacy, 21.0% inadequate health literacy. The analysis of the individual questions showed that, in almost all areas, paticipants reported more problems in finding, understanding, assessing and implementing health-related information than respondents in other European countries. The present study shows that young health professionals have limited health literacy. Further research is needed to obtain a more comprehensive and differentiated picture of health literacy among health professionals. Health literacy skills and competencies should be systematically introduced in health professions-related study curricula, as well as in bedside training.