Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T13:41:32.340Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Health Literacy During Pandemic and Education

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2021

Andreea Molnar*
Affiliation:
Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia
*
Corresponding author: Andreea Molnar, Email: [email protected].

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted the importance of health literacy. This commentary discusses the consequences of poor health literacy and argues that we need to improve health literacy. Better health literacy has the potential to improve community trust, alleviate health disparities, and improve the results of the immediate response required in the early stages of a pandemic. The commentary argues that health literacy has to be addressed as part of mandatory school curriculum. Methods on how to improve and provide equitable access to education are also discussed.

Type
Concepts in Disaster Medicine
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Nutbeam, D. COVID-19: lessons in risk communication and public trust. Public Health Res Pract. 2020;30(2):e3022006.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Han, Q, Zheng, B, Cristea, M, et al. Trust in government regarding COVID-19 and its associations with preventive health behaviour and prosocial behaviour during the pandemic: a cross-sectional and longitudinal study. Psychol Med. 2021 March 26:1-11. doi: 10.1017/S0033291721001306CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luhmann, N. Trust and Power. New York: John Wiley & Sons; 2018.Google Scholar
Harring, N, Jagers, SC, Löfgren, Å. COVID-19: large-scale collective action, government intervention, and the importance of trust. World Dev. 2021;138:105236.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zarocostas, J. How to fight an infodemic. Lancet. 2020;395(10225):676.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Paakkari, L, Okan, O. COVID-19: health literacy is an underestimated problem. Lancet Public Health. 2020;5(5):e249-e250.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Paasche-Orlow, MK, Parker, RM, Gazmararian, JA, et al. The prevalence of limited health literacy. J Gen Intern Med. 2005;20(2):175-184.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Australia’s health 2018: in brief. Cat. no. AUS 222. Canberr 2018. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/australias-health-2018/contents/indicators-of-australias-health/health-literacy. Accessed June 29, 2021.Google Scholar
Salvi, C, Frost, M, Couillard, C, et al. Emergency risk communication: early lessons learned during the pilot phase of a five-step capacity-building package. Public Health Panor. 2018;4(01):51-57.Google Scholar
McCaffery, KJ, Dodd, RH, Cvejic, E, et al. Health literacy and disparities in COVID-19–related knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours in Australia. Public Health Res Pract. 2020;30(4):30342012.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stormacq, C, Van den Broucke, S, Wosinski, J. Does health literacy mediate the relationship between socioeconomic status and health disparities? Integrative review. Health Promot Int. 2019;34(5):e1-e17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Der Heide, I, Wang, J, Droomers, M, et al. The relationship between health, education, and health literacy: results from the Dutch Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey. J Health Commun. 2013;18(Supp 1):172-184.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Molnar A. Antimicrobial resistance awareness and games. Trends Microbiol. 2019;27(1):1-3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Willingale-Theune, J, Manaia, A, Gebhardt, P, et al. Science education. Introducing modern science into schools. Science. 2009;325(5944):1077-1078.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed