Beyond Textbooks and Standard Practices: Advancing Mental Health Literacy With Digital Tools

Introduction

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, 2023) defines literacy as “the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create and communicate using printed and written materials associated with a variety of contexts”. This concept is one of the determinants of population health outcomes. Therefore, the ability to acquire, process, and understand essential health information for using services and making informed health decisions is known as health literacy (Berkman et al., 2010). The World Health Organization (2021) defines health literacy as a set of cognitive and social skills that enable individuals to gain access to, understand, and use information to promote and maintain good health. As noted by Antunes and Lopes (2018), health literacy contributes to the overall improvement of community health by increasing citizens' capacity to make informed decisions necessary for the autonomous management of their health. Moreover, according to Sørensen et al. (2012), health literacy involves an individual's ability to comprehend the factors influencing their health and how to manage them. An individual with adequate health literacy can take responsibility for their health, as well as that of their family and community. Speros (2005) and Wolf et al. (2005) asserted that it is an essential professional competency for health in the 21^st century, particularly relevant as it closely relates to the population's physical and mental health status. In the work 'International Handbook of Health Literacy: Research, Practice, and Policy Across the Lifespan,' Okan et al. (2019) emphasized the challenging responsibility of health professionals to integrate citizen health literacy as part of people-centered health care. Health literacy should be evident, measurable, viable, and can make a difference in the lives of individuals, communities, and societies.