Abstract
Health literacy describes skills and competencies that enable people to gain access to, understand and apply health information to positively influence their own health and the health of those in their social environments. In an increasingly media saturated and digitized world, these skill sets are necessary for accessing and navigating sources of health information and tools, such as television, the Internet, and mobile apps. The concepts of Media Health Literacy (MHL) and eHealth Literacy (eHL) describe the specific competencies such tasks require. This article introduces the two concepts, and then reviews findings on the associations of MHL and eHL with several contextual variables in the social environment such as socio-demographics, social support, and system complexity, as a structural variable. As eHL and MHL are crucial for empowering people to actively engage in their own health, there is a growing body of literature reporting on the potential and the effectiveness of intervention initiatives to positively influence these competencies. From an ethical standpoint, equity is emphasized, stressing the importance of accessible media environments for all—including those at risk of exclusion from (digital) media sources. Alignment of micro and macro contextual spheres will ultimately facilitate both non-digital and digital media to effectively support and promote public health.
Highlights
Several factors have led, and continue to lead, to the development of health systems that enable, and partly expect their users to adopt a much more active role in their health management than was customary some decades ago
Several research findings have indicated that health literacy levels vary by educational background e.g., [58,59], and similar findings have been summarized for eHealth Literacy and Media Health
The latter is a standpoint supported by scholars who closely link the development of health literacy to school health education [6,60]
Summary
Continue to lead, to the development of health systems that enable, and partly expect their users to adopt a much more active role in their health management than was customary some decades ago. Being able to actively manage one’s health is very demanding of citizens. It is largely, by no means entirely, dependent on the availability, accessibility, and appropriateness of health information. To reflect the skill set required to effectively manage health and navigate the health system from health care to disease prevention and health promotion, the concept of health literacy was developed. A wide variety of definitions exist, but in general Health literacy (HL) is conceptualized as skills and competences enabling people to obtain and interpret health information and apply their knowledge to inform health-related decision-making (for an overview of definitions see e.g., [1,2])
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