Investigation and analysis of health literacy status of aged care caregivers in Beijing

Abstract

Objective To analyze the status of health literacy and its influencing factors among pension nursing staff in Beijing, so as to provide references for future training and health education. Methods A total of 135 caregivers from four aged care organizations in Beijing were recruited by convenience sampling method. The revised edition of 2009 Chinese Citizens' Health Literacy Questionnaire was adopted to investigate the status of health literacy. The influencing factors of health literacy were analyzed by t test and variance analysis. Results The overall health literacy level of aged care caregivers in Beijing was 39.3%, and the total score of health literacy was (15.64±2.10) . The score of each dimension decreased in the order of health related skills, basic health concept and knowledge, and healthy lifestyle and behaviors. Single factor analysis showed there was a relationship between the score of caregivers' health literacy and age, education level and frequency of training. The score of health literacy decreased as the age higher (r=-0.278, P=0.001) , the education level lower (F=4.323, P=0.027) , and the training frequency less (r=-0.173, P=0.047) . Conclusions The level of pension caregivers' health literacy in Beijing needs to be improved. It suggested to pay more attention to improve their healthy lifestyle and behaviors, and to increase training frequency in addition to training their health skills and cognition, so as to improve their health literacy and provide better care to the senior citizens. Key words: Health education; Health literacy; Caregivers