Low literacy remains a problem across the developed world. Health literacy has emerged as a specialist literacy, although its conceptualisation and measurement overlap with those of functional literacy. The social practice view, which conceptualises literacy as an activity rather than a skill, is useful in examining literacy-related practices and demands in healthcare contexts. Associations bet...

BACKGROUND Both financial literacy (managing personal finances) and health literacy (managing personal health) become increasingly important for older adults, potentially impacting their quality of life. Resources in these constructs of literacy tend to be distinct, although the skills and decision-making involved overlap as financial issues impact healthcare choices. Thus the primary purpose o...

Introduction. This paper argues for increased research consideration of the conceptual overlap between information seeking and information literacy, and for scholarly attention to theory-based empirical research that has potential value to practitioners. Method. The paper reviews information seeking and information literacy research, and highlights the exceptional research of Louise Limberg and...

It brings us great pleasure to present this special issue on health literacy of the Journal of Health Communication. This is the fourth year that the journal has dedicated an issue to this important and evolving topic and we greatly appreciate their continued commitment to this growing area of research. We hope that this year’s special issue will continue to generate discussion and inform futur...

International and cultural perspectives of health literacy help deepen the understanding of the global context within which health literacy plays an important role. Throughout this chapter, we explore the significance of health literacy initiatives, interventions, practices, and research for addressing health challenges on a variety of levels in the international and global context. More specif...

With the increasing recognition of health literacy as a worldwide research priority, the development and refinement of indices to measure the construct is an important area of inquiry. Furthermore, the proliferation of online resources and research means that there is a growing need for self-administered instruments. We undertook a systematic overview to identify all published self-administered...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Patients' health literacy is increasingly recognized as a critical factor affecting patient-physician communication and health outcomes. We reviewed research on health literacy, examined its impact on patient-physician communication, and offer recommendations to enhance communication with patients who have poor health literacy. METHODS We conducted a literature revie...

In this paper, I attempt to bring together approaches to literacy in theory and in practice, drawing upon various activities I have been involved in over the years–research in Iranian villages during the 1970s; linking research and theory to literacy policy, with particular reference to a contribution to the Unesco Global Monitoring Report in 2004 and involvement in an ongoing adult literacy tr...

Information literacy has been proclaimed as a foundational literacy of the twenty-first century by many researchers, library practitioners, and international agencies. However, there is still disagreement about how information literacy is conceptualized and what key elements constitute the practice. This disagreement has led to the practice/skills debate that has emerged from workplace research...