Promoting health literacy in seniors through self-reliant groups. Results of the GeWinn intervention

Abstract

Abstract Background Health literacy (HL) has been demonstrated to be limited among adults aged 65 and over. However, evidence-based HL interventions are lacking. The objective of this study was to develop and test a community-based HL-intervention in the fields of health promotion and self-management of chronic diseases among elderly people. Methods A participatory approach was used to develop and implement a 53-weeks program of self-reliant, peer-moderated groups of people aged 60 and over in 14 municipalities in Germany. HL was intended to be improved by promoting of self-management skills, community participation and media literacy. The intervention’s effect on HL was measured by using the HLS-EU-16 questionnaire three times. Results Of 183 older adults who completed the HL questionnaire (mean age 69.8, SD 6.74; 20.1% male), 42.3% had intermediate or low levels of HL. A repeated-measures analysis of variance showed statistically significant effects of time on HL scores (F1.91 = 16.948, p ≤ 0.01, eta squared = 0.085) over the one-year period. HL sub-dimensions showed similar results. 87% of the participants would recommend the intervention to other people. Conclusions The results indicate that the structure of the intervention is appropriate to involve older adults in self-reliant working groups to improve HL. This is supported by the high acceptance of the intervention the participants showed. As part of the sustained implementation of GeWinn, special attention shall be paid to reaching out to and engaging vulnerable groups (e. g. elderly people with low socio-economic status, older men, migrants). Key messages Self-reliant groups in peer-moderation are effective to engage older adults to improve their HL. The intervention improved all HL rates and even doubled the amount of participants with excellent HL.