Health Literacy Concept Analysis

Introduction Health literacy stands as an area of growing concern in health care. The concept of health literacy may be derived from Nola Pender’s Model of Health Promotion. The theory notes that individuals possess unique characteristics and experiences that influence their actions, behaviors, and motivations (Petiprin, 2016). Concept analysis remains a means to strengthen and refine concepts, which stand as the basis for theory development (Walker & Avant, 2011). Therefore, by constructing robust and clear concepts, sound theory development will occur (Walker & Avant, 2011). The following concept analysis contains a review of the literature regarding addressing and assessing health literacy. Furthermore, the concept analysis entails stating
According to Egbert and Nanna (2009), health literacy remains a stronger predictor of health outcomes than education or socio-economic status. Individuals with low health literacy experience more frequent hospitalizations, higher health care costs, an increased number of visits to health care providers, and often lack the ability to navigate the health care system (Egbert & Nanna, 2009; Betz, Ruccione, Meeske, Smith, & Chang, 2008). Patients may feel embarrassed by their literacy level and attempt to hide their lack of understanding of teachings from the provider (Egbert & Nanna, 2009; Lambert & Keogh, 2014). Therefore, establishing a trusting relationship with the patient remains crucial when caring for an individual with a low health literacy
The articles by Egbert and Nanna (2009) and Lambert and Keogh (2014) were peer-reviewed, journal articles with reliable sources, but were not research articles. The study by Mottus et al. (2014) contained a large sample size with a longitudinal research design, allowing for a long-term view of the participants’ health outcomes and health literacy levels. The study’s strengths included collecting comprehensive measurements of physical health, cognitive abilities, and health literacy; however, the study was limited by a lack of causality in their results. Qualitative and quantitative methods were utilized to measure the effectiveness of the HULP Toolkit in Brega et al.’s (2015) research; however, their study lacked generalizability. Future research remains necessary to assess and screen for low health literacy levels, especially in children and