Improve knowledge about how health professionals and the health care system can bridge the gap between the abilities of people with limited health literacy and the demands imposed by health care settings

Summary:

Research within the IROHLA (Intervention Research On Health Literacy among Ageing population) project focuses on improving health literacy for the ageing population in different European contexts. Health literacy has been defined as the degree to which people are able to access, understand, appraise and communicate information to engage with the demands of different health contexts in order to promote and maintain good health across the life course (Kwan, Frankish, and Rootman, 2006). Health professionals and the health care organizations can identify health literacy related problems, promote the understanding of health and health care, provide support in informed decisions and enable self-management of older adults. Scientific evidence with regard to the role of health professionals and the health system in improving health literacy among the ageing population is still limited.

Therefore, the central aim of the PhD-trajectory is to improve our understanding how health professionals and the health care system can bridge the gap between the abilities of people with limited health literacy and the demands imposed by health care settings. At professional level we focus on training of health professionals providing more tailored support to enable informed decision making by the ageing population. On organisational level we investigate interventions identifying opportunities and challenges for improving communication and promote health literacy related practices.Validation of interventions targeted at professionals and the health system and insight in the implementation of interventions will contribute to the development of an international guideline for policy and practice of health literacy.