Introduction: Harnessing new digital technologies can improve access to health care but can also widen the health divide for those with…
Health Literacy
Health literacy refers to our knowledge of issues relating to our health and well-being, as well as the ability to understand and use information to make decisions about our health.
Poor health literacy can affect patient access to healthcare, comprehension of health conditions, and the adoption of behaviours that may prevent health conditions from arising in the first place. Good health literacy empowers people to take an active role in managing their own health and can also enable them to participate in social initiatives to improve global health.
PLOS ONE, in association with PLOS Global Public Health, PLOS Digital Health, and PLOS Medicine, is highlighting this important field with a curated collection papers exploring the ways in which health literacy can affect health outcomes.
Image Credit: Stethoscope by Fernando Zhiminaicela, Pixabay
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PLOS Digital Health Digital literacy as a new determinant of health: A scoping review
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PLOS Digital Health An introduction to digital determinants of health
In recent years, technology has been increasingly incorporated within healthcare for the provision of safe and efficient delivery of…
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PLOS Global Public Health Health literacy strengths and challenges among residents of a resource-poor village in rural India: Epidemiological and cluster analyses
Cluster analysis can complement and extend the information learned through epidemiological analysis. The aim of this study was to…
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PLOS Global Public Health Digital health literacy, vaccine information sources, and vaccine acceptance among parents in Ontario: Quantitative findings from a mixed methods study
Parents make important vaccination decisions for their children and many variables affect parents’ decisions to accept or decline…
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PLOS Global Public Health Attitudes and experiences regarding preventive strategies for the deaf population in Western New York
People for whom English is a second language, such as the deaf population, often have unequal access to health information and low health…
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PLOS Medicine The impact of pictorial health warnings on purchases of sugary drinks for children: A randomized controlled trial
Background: Pictorial warnings on tobacco products are promising for motivating behavior change, but few studies have examined pictorial…
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PLOS ONE Learning to think critically about health using digital technology in Ugandan lower secondary schools: A contextual analysis
Introduction: The world is awash with claims about the effects of health interventions. Many of these claims are untrustworthy because the…
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PLOS ONE “It’s hard to keep a distance when you’re with someone you really care about”—A qualitative study of adolescents’ pandemic-related health literacy and how Covid-19 affects their lives
Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore how adolescents accessed, understood, appraised, and applied information on pandemic…
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PLOS ONE Epidemiology and patients’ self-reported knowledge of implantable medical devices: Results of a cross-sectional survey in Hungary
Background: Implantable medical devices (IMDs) are medical instruments embedded inside the body. Well-informed and empowered patients…
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PLOS ONE Cognition, educational attainment and diabetes distress predict poor health literacy in diabetes: A cross-sectional analysis of the SHELLED study
Objectives: To identify factors that predict poor health literacy amongst people with diabetes. Design: Cross-sectional analysis of…
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PLOS ONE A cross-sectional study of health and well-being among newly settled refugee migrants in Sweden–The role of health literacy, social support and self-efficacy
Structural barriers such as inadequate housing, lack of employment opportunities, and discrimination are known to adversely affect the…
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PLOS ONE “Putting the power back into community”: A mixed methods evaluation of a chronic hepatitis B training course for the Aboriginal health workforce of Australia’s Northern Territory
Background: Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is endemic in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population of Australia’s Northern Territory.…
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PLOS ONE Development and validation of a subjective end-of-life health literacy scale
Personal health literacy is the ability of an individual to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related…
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PLOS ONE Impact of genomic literacy components on genetic testing decision-making in the general Japanese population in the 20s and 30s
In promoting genomic medicine, genomic literacy, which is the public’s ability to acquire and utilize the knowledge and skills related to…
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PLOS ONE How socioeconomically disadvantaged people access, understand, appraise, and apply health information: A qualitative study exploring health literacy skills
Objectives: Health literacy, or a person’s competence to access, understand, appraise and apply health information, can be considered a…
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PLOS ONE Pathways linking health literacy to self-care in diabetic patients with physical disabilities: A moderated mediation model
Introduction: Health literacy is widely considered to be a determinant of self-care behavior in people with diabetes. However, the…
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PLOS ONE Mechanisms of school-based peer education interventions to improve young people’s health literacy or health behaviours: A realist-informed systematic review
Introduction: Peer education interventions are widely used in secondary schools with an aim to improve students’ health literacy and/or…
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PLOS ONE Association between awareness and knowledge of medication-overuse headache with medication-taking behavior among adults with migraine
Frequent use of pain relief medications among patients with migraine can result in disease worsening and medication-overuse headache…
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PLOS ONE Associations between Polish school principals’ health literacy and implementation of the Health Promoting School approach during the COVID-19 pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic has contributed to increasing the responsibility of school principals for the health of all school community…
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PLOS ONE Relationship between health literacy and health-related quality of life in Korean adults with chronic diseases
Inadequate health literacy is a risk factor for poor health outcomes and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). So far, the impact of…
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PLOS ONE Mediating role of health literacy in relationship between frailty and health-related quality of life in community-dwelling older adults
Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the mediating effects of health literacy on the relationship between frailty and…
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PLOS ONE Socio-demographic determinants of infectious disease-related health literacy and knowledge in Armenia: Results from a nationwide survey
Introduction: The success of health education programs heavily depends on the individuals’ ability to comprehend information and apply it…
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Section Editor Rubeena Zakar