Abstract
This paper reviews literature on the concept of health literacy. Specifically the paper reviews theoretical aspects on the concept (The What); the rationale behind health literacy and how important health literacy is towards attaining good health (The Why) plus tools and approaches towards measuring and assessing Health Literacy (The How). A documentary research method was used in collecting relevant information from sixty publications. Articles reviewed were from peer-reviewed journals, conference papers, health professional studies, research by recognized independent institutions as well as systematic and narrative reviews on the topic. The review concentrated on literature published from 1970 to 2015 as the concept was developed around 1970s, excluding publications made before 1970s and non-English language publications. It is evident that the concept of Health Literacy has evolved from a basic description of the ability to perform health related tasks that require reading and computational skills, to cover cognitive capacities related to obtaining, processing, and understanding health information, leading up to decision making. There is a great need to have this particular concept and/ or process promoted taking into consideration the purposes, importance and rationale towards health care.
Highlights
It is apparent that good health is a cornerstone of development in any society (World Bank 1993, WHO 2010, WHO 2012), much as health status of a society is likely to impact all other sectors in the society in a given polity; (Ainsworth and Over 1994, Achmat & Cameron, 1995, Baruch & Clancy 2000, Sørensen et al 2015)
Ill-health and diseases are recognized as barriers to economic growth and subsequently to national development in developing countries (Bloom & Canning 2000, WHO 2001, Bloom & Canning 2003; Currie 2009, Strittmatter & Sunde 2011, WHO et al 2013); it is obvious that achieving development goal calls for improving health status of a nation's population, it is obvious that there are a number of challenges in attaining good health (Ratzan et al 2000, Byrne 2004, Mamdani and Bangser 2004, Sanders and Chopra 2006; Kaseje 2006, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants 2013)
This review offers evidence of the evolution of the concept, a process, an outcome and a public health goal of Health Literacy (HL), its measurement and application
Summary
It is apparent that good health is a cornerstone of development in any society (World Bank 1993, WHO 2010, WHO 2012), much as health status of a society is likely to impact all other sectors in the society in a given polity; (politics, society and the economy inclusive) (Ainsworth and Over 1994, Achmat & Cameron, 1995, Baruch & Clancy 2000, Sørensen et al 2015). It is apparent that limited HL impacts on health, health outcomes, health care costs and health care utilization (Weiss et al 1992, Parker et al 1995, Gazmararian et al 2003, Berkman et al 2004, Nielsen-Bohlman et al 2004, Weiss and Palmer 2004, Weiss et al 2005). This paper discusses the concept of health literacy and its theoretical approaches (The What), its importance (The Why) and how it can be measured (The How) by reviewing various scholarly articles on the concept
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