The Level of Health Literacy of Seniors Living in Eastern Region of Poland. Preliminary Study.

Bogumiła Kosicka,Justyna Chałdaś-Majdańska,Agnieszka Chrzan-Rodak,Krzysztof Jurek,Jadwiga Bąk,Beata Dobrowolska,Michał Machul,Monika Bieniak,Alina Deluga

doi:10.3390/healthcare8030277

Bogumiła Kosicka, Justyna Chałdaś-Majdańska + Show 7 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare8030277

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Abstract

Health literacy (HL) is recognised as an important, modifiable factor in the self-management and health performance of elderly people. The aim of this preliminary study was to identify and analyse the level of health literacy among the elderly living in one of the eastern regions in Poland. The cross-sectional study was conducted among a convenience sample of 200 seniors aged 65+ after cognitive pre-screening with the use of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scale. To collect data, the Polish version of the HLS-EU-Q47 was used. More than half of the elderly surveyed presented problematic levels of general HL (GEN-HL), and also problematic levels of other dimensions: health care health literacy (HC-HL), disease prevention health literacy (DP-HL), and health promotion health literacy (HP-HL). The level of seniors’ HL is dependent on the level of their education, place of living, participation in activities run by Daily Center for the Elderly, and their self-assessment of health condition (p < 0.05). These results imply the important message that there is a need to create initiatives and programs improving health literacy targeted at seniors living in rural areas, those with lower levels of education, and those with poor access to activities organised by institutions supporting seniors.

Highlights

Health literacy (HL) is an evolving concept that has been gaining in importance over the last decade [1]
There were no statistical differences between respondents representing early and late elderly groups; those over 75 years of age more often presented problematic levels of general HL (GEN-HL)
Our current research has shown that factors such as education level, place of residence, and participation in activities run by the Daily Center for the Elderly or other organisations/institutions significantly differentiate the HL level of elderly people

Summary

Introduction

Health literacy (HL) is an evolving concept that has been gaining in importance over the last decade [1]. HL is recognised as an important determinant of society’s health and, a key factor in efforts to improve it [3,4]. Many studies have shown that low levels of HL are of prognostic importance for various. It is related to higher health care costs [8,9]. Research shows that a lower degree of health knowledge is associated with poorer mental and physical health [8] and adverse health behaviours such as: lower ability to take care of oneself [10], higher percentage of avoidable hospitalisations [6,11], and less frequent use of preventive health services [12,13]. Low HL is associated with higher mortality and lower levels of care satisfaction [1,9]

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