Role of Media in Health Literacy

Role of Media in Health Literacy

Seçil Özkan, Hülya Şirin
Copyright: © 2021 |Pages: 8
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-6825-5.ch011
OnDemand:
(Individual Chapters)
Available
$37.50
Current Special Offers
No Current Special Offers
TOTAL SAVINGS: $37.50

Abstract

The World Health Organization 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. Health literacy improves the life expectancy and quality and removes health inequalities. Health literacy includes the stages of reading, listening, analyzing, participating, and making decisions and adapting to life. An infodemic is an overabundance of information. It includes deliberate attempts to disseminate wrong information to undermine the public health response and advance alternative agendas of groups or individuals. Mis- or disinformation can be harmful to people's health, threaten precious health gains, and lead to poor observance of public health measures, thus endangering countries' ability to stop the pandemic. Media is one of the important sectors in health and health literacy. The concepts of infodemic became a current issue with the COVID-19 pandemic and revealed how important the role the media plays in intervening the health problems is.
Chapter Preview
Top

Introduction

The term health literacy was first coined in 1974 by S.K. Simonds in the book “Health Education as Social Policy”. In the 1990s, the concept of health literacy began to be redefined and discussed with the idea that it's impact would be great on human health; in the 2000s, research and practices on this issue were also put on the agenda of international organizations. The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines health literacy as, “The capacity of gaining the knowledge of maintaining and improving good health through cognitive and social means, individually”(Adams et al., 2009; Health Organization & Office for Europe, 2013; Sezgin, 2014). Table 1 also presented different definitions of health literacy (Sørensen, 2019).

Table 1.
Some Definitions of Health Literacy
Source(year)Definition
Dodson et al (2015)‘The personal characteristics and social resources needed for individuals and communities to access, understand, appraise and use information and services to make decisions about health. Health literacy includes the capacity to communicate, assert and enact these decisions.’
Sørensen et al (2012)‘Health literacy is linked to literacy and entails people’s knowledge, motivation and competencies to access, understand, appraise and apply information to make judgements and take decisions in everyday life concerning healthcare, disease prevention and health promotion to maintain and improve quality of life during the life course.’
European Commission (2007)‘The ability to read, lter and understand health information to form sound judgments.’
American Medical Association (1999)‘The constellation of skills, including the ability to perform basic reading and numeral tasks required to function in the healthcare environment.’
Nutbeam (1998)‘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.’
Joint Committee on National Health Education Standards (1995)‘Health literacy is the capacity of individuals to obtain, interpret, and understand basic health information and services and the competence to use such information and services in ways which enhance health.’

Health literacy is an element that increases the lifespan and quality of a healthy life and eliminates health inequalities. For health professionals, practicing correct communication and effective use of clinical skills, having occupational satisfaction is through taking a more active role in decision making, benefiting from a better quality medical service and being comprehensible for those who receive health care. Health literacy is the responsibility of both healthcare providers and individuals. It is a culture-building tool for the preservation and maintenance of health. Health literacy covers an individual's knowledge of health through stages of reading, listening, analyzing, making decisions, participating in decisions, and adapting it to their lives. Health literacy is not just the ability to read. In health literacy;

Complete Chapter List

Search this Book:
Reset