The Health Literacy of First Year Physiotherapy and Speech Pathology Students and Their Perceived Future Roles in Supporting Their Clients' Health Literacy.

Abstract

Allied health professionals are well positioned to assess and support their clients' health literacy (HL); however, they report being deficient in HL knowledge and skills. To explore allied health students' HL and their perceptions of their roles in supporting clients' HL. A mixed-methods cross-sectional study was undertaken in August 2022 amongst allied health students enrolled in graduate-entry masters programs at the University of Tasmania. Data collected included the Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ) (n = 30) and qualitative telephone interviews (n = 6). Allied health students' confidence in the knowledge domain of the HLQ was rated as 28.57 from a maximum possible score of 50. Similarly, the students' confidence in the skills domain of the HLQ was rated as 14.87 from a maximum possible score of 25. Four themes were generated from the qualitative interviews: (1) valuing HL, (2) an innate part of their future roles, (3) contributors to their own HL, and (4) advocacy and their decision to study allied health. This study provides a preliminary insight into the HL of allied health students and highlights the strong perception held by allied health students that supporting clients' HL is a large component of their future roles.