Abstract
The main objective of this study was to explore how kidney transplant recipients find, understand, and use health information, and make decisions about their health—also known as health literacy. Kidney transplant recipients must take an active part in their health following the transplantation, since a new organ requires new medication and focus on lifestyle to prevent side-effects and signs of organ rejection. Consequently, it is of major clinical relevance to explore how kidney transplant recipients understand and relate to health literacy. Ten kidney transplant recipients were interviewed at three weeks and again at six months post-transplantation. Design and analysis were inspired by constructivist grounded theory. The results of the study are presented through a model consisting of three phases: the trigger phase, the information phase, and the response phase. The participants were influenced by context and personal factors as they moved between three phases, as information seekers, recipients, and sharers. This study illustrates health literacy as an active process. It gives new insight into what motivates kidney recipients to find, share, and receive information, and how a hierarchy of resources is built and used.
Highlights
Health literacy as a concept has developed over the past three decades, initially focusing on reading and numeracy skills and covering much broader competencies
Their evolving knowledge made them less sensitive to situations that would have created triggers in the early phase. They felt more secure about when and where to find information and help. In this Norwegian study, we aimed to elucidate what health literacy may comprise in the context of kidney transplantation, using a qualitative design
The main findings are presented as a model that may offer a supplement to our understanding of health literacy as a process moving between and across a trigger phase, an information phase, and a response phase
Summary
Health literacy as a concept has developed over the past three decades, initially focusing on reading and numeracy skills and covering much broader competencies. The World Health Organization [1] defines health literacy as “the cognitive and social skills which determine the motivation and ability of individuals to gain access to, understand and use information in ways which promote and maintain good health”. They further state that “health literacy implies the achievement of a level of knowledge, personal skills, and confidence to take action to improve personal and community health by changing personal lifestyle and living.
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