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The purpose of this paper is to provide a selected bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.

Introduces and annotates periodical articles, monographs, and audiovisual material examining library instruction and information literacy.

Provides information about each source, discusses the characteristics of current scholarship, and describes sources that contain unique scholarly contributions and quality reproductions.

The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.

Low health literacy is a hidden epidemic. Identifying individuals with low health literacy is a formidable barrier to eliminating disparities and improving health care quality and health outcomes. However, screening individual patients for low health literacy can be prohibitively expensive, time consuming, and inefficient. Focusing on communities, rather than individuals, provides opportunities for action. Identifying geographic areas with large numbers of individuals with low health literacy can enable stakeholders to focus interventions in areas of greatest need. Creating such a measure also sheds light on health literacy as a community or neighborhood-level resource that contributes to health disparities and can inform health interventions.

We applied regression coefficients from a predictive model of health literacy to US Census data to estimate health literacy scores for census geographic areas in Missouri. We then created maps displaying the variability in health literacy levels. Finally, we compared areas identified by the predictive model to those identified on the basis of educational attainment alone.

Areas identified by the predictive model as having the lowest health literacy were substantially different from those identified using educational attainment alone, suggesting that a multivariate approach using a limited set of widely available predictors is considerably more accurate.

This study demonstrates a cost-effective and feasible method for estimating and mapping community-level health literacy. Predicting and mapping areas of low health literacy is relatively straightforward and inexpensive and makes complex data readily accessible to many stakeholders. Such maps can also identify and prioritize geographic areas for intervention by health care and public health providers. Moreover, this focus on community-level health literacy may help foster stakeholder collaboration, leading to efficient resource use that is targeted effectively and resulting in a positive return on investment for stakeholders.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically test whether individuals’ internal factors (prior knowledge, resources, and capability) and environmental factors (stimuli, limitation) have any influence on the development of personal health information management (PHIM) literacy skills and which constructs are statistically associated with general health-related outcomes.

Survey responses were collected from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (mTurk), a crowdsourcing internet service, in December 2013. A total of 578 responses were analyzed using partial-least squares structural equation modeling technique.

The model as a whole exhibited 62.8 percent of variance in health-related outcomes. The findings suggest that prior knowledge has a direct effect on health literacy (HL) skills (H3: β=0.212, p<0.001). The PHIM stimuli (H4: β=0.475, p<0.001) have a direct impact on HL skills, and they have an indirect effect on the comprehension of stimuli (H6: β=0.526, p<0.001) through the mediator of stimuli and the knowledge variable.

One possible limitation of this study is that the study may include a highly technology literate group, as survey respondents were recruited from the online service mTurk.

The study poses implications for further research and practice. This research was an exploratory work for further model development so future studies should investigate deeper into real personal health record (PHR) user groups (e.g. patients and caregivers). For example, studies by White and Horvitz (2009a, b) conducted real-time user studies that the authors could apply to the authors’ future PHR studies. Since the findings cannot be generalizable to these specific groups, similar research may be conducted. Using caregiver groups of PHR users in comparison to patient groups could determine the similarities and differences of their PHIM activities and related outcomes for optimal design of self-care management.

Further, it is suggested to conduct large scale, real-time-based studies using a PHR transaction log analysis to achieve conclusiveness and generalizability. Additionally, future studies should address not only diverse real-time user groups, but also various PHR data sources and their presentation issues.

This study model offers an important perspective on PHIM and its causal pathway for use not only by patient educators and healthcare providers but also information providers, personal health record (PHR) system developers, and PHR users.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the relationship between elderly people's health literacy skills and those people's decision to make use of digital health service platforms. Despite the substantial influence of digitisation on the delivery of healthcare services, understanding how health intervention strategies might help empower elderly people's health literacy skills is critical.

This paper analyses the existing trends in research on the convergence of health literacy, health intervention programmes and digital health service platforms by reviewing 34 studies published between 2000 and 2020.

The findings of the review indicate three primary themes (health literacy skills, health management competency and attitude/confidence), which provide a summary of the current literature, and in all three the results show that health intervention programmes help to enhance health literacy skills of elderly people. Based on the review results and by organising the fragmented status quo of health intervention research, the authors develop a comprehensive research model and identify future research directions for research in this domain.

The findings will be useful to health professionals in two ways: (1) the findings provide practical information about the growing need to implement health literacy intervention programmes to satisfy elderly people's appetite for accessing health services due to cognitive and physiological impairments, and (2) the finding help them to understand that with digital health platforms, elderly people have quicker access to health services, improving the quality of care provided to them.

This paper presents a comprehensive research model for analysing the impact of health literacy skills on older people's ability and intention to access digital health information sources, considering various health intervention approaches.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a collaborative effort between a health care organization and academic institution to strengthen organizational health literacy.

The intervention took place at a rural, federally qualified health clinic in Missouri between May 2009 and April 2011. Qualitative interviews of key informants were conducted before (n=35) and after (n=23) the intervention to examine program implementation and success in effecting organizational change.

Intervention activities helped establish a comprehensive understanding of health literacy. The project achieved moderate, fundamental and sustainable organizational change. The program successfully integrated health literacy practices into clinic systems and garnered leadership and organizational commitment, helped the workforce improve interpersonal communication and embedded practices making health education materials more accessible.

The study points to programmatic, conceptual and methodological challenges that must be addressed for organizations to improve health literacy practices, and suggests change management strategies to advance organizational health literacy.

This chapter focusses on the contribution of health professionals' communication competences to patients. We propose a model of communication to be used in the therapeutic relationship, supported by a literature review. The methodology is qualitative. Four focus groups (FGs) composed of Portuguese health professionals (N = 25), such as medical doctors, nurses and professors in health fields, were conducted during 2017 and 2018. All the participants of FGs validated a three-factor aggregated and interdependent model, which is composed of assertiveness, clear language and positivity (ACP model). The factors reinforce the therapeutic relationship and improve health literacy, thus reinforcing the patient's health and well-being. The argument is that health is wealth, so if the communication can improve health, then this has positive social implications. The study is a response to the lack of consensus in the literature on what specific and operative communication competences the health professional should perform in clinical encounters with the patients, and how these competences can improve, in the final instance, their health and well-being.

Health literacy (HL) is considered an important prerequisite for informed, self-determined health decisions. HL research among older migrants is scarce, but especially important, as older people face great challenges regarding management of chronic illnesses and, therefore, are in need of adequate healthcare. Therefore, this paper aims to report HL in the domain of healthcare (HL-HC) among older migrants in Germany stratified by different countries of origin.

Data were collected by a quota sample in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Computer-assisted personal face-to-face interviews were conducted in German, Russian and Turkish. For this analysis, a subsample of 192 first-generation migrants aged 65–80 years from Turkey, Poland, Greece or Italy was drawn from the main sample (n = 1,000). HL-HC was assessed using a sub-index of health literacy survey European questionnaire 47. Data analyses comprised descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariate analyses.

Overall, 68.6% of the older migrants have limited HL-HC, and mean HL-HC scores vary significantly among different countries of origin. There is great variation in reported difficulties for the single HL-HC tasks by migrant groups. In multiple regressions, country of origin, not German as main language, low functional HL and low social status are significantly associated with lower HL-HC.

Interventions should be aimed at smaller target groups and should consider language issues and possible differences related to countries of origin into account. Both individual skills and system-related aspects need to be addressed.

This paper presents first data on HL-HC among older migrants in Germany and its determinants, stratified by different countries of origin.

Many refugees and asylum seekers in Germany experience a high disease burden and low health literacy. The current study aims to focus on assessing these issues among African refugees and asylum seekers in Bavaria, Germany. The authors evaluated their self-perceived health status and health literacy, and identified barriers and gaps in health care utilization, intending to improve health care services for this group.

The authors conducted a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study involving 69 refugees and asylum seekers from Ethiopia, Eritrea and Nigeria. The authors performed descriptive and exploratory statistical analyses.

The authors found a substantial disease burden in the early stages of resettlement in Germany, particularly mental health symptoms (53.6%) and musculoskeletal problems (47.8%). Challenges in health literacy were observed, such as difficulties in understanding health information and managing emergency situations. Access to interpreters was limited, and understanding treatment certificates was more challenging than using electronic health cards, with 18.2% of participants reporting denial of medical treatment.

These findings highlight the need for early and tailored health support for refugees, with a particular focus on mental health. Efforts should be made to reduce language barriers and improve navigational skills within the health-care system, particularly in emergency situations. Addressing the restricted access to health care and bureaucratic obstacles is crucial for improved health outcomes among refugees.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to specifically explore the self-reported health status and health literacy of African refugees and asylum seekers in Bavaria, Germany, providing valuable insights into the unique healthcare challenges of this often underrepresented and overlooked population.

Health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions. The purpose of this paper is to focus on sixth graders’ (N=21, aged 13–14) health literacy, particularly in relation to the rational use of medicines and the role of pharmacies.

The socio-scientific issues (SSI) approach by way of the three-stage model, the stages being scenario, inquiry and decision making, was adopted in this intervention study. The study was a qualitative case study and data consisted of cartoons, audio recordings of group discussions and group interviews. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis.

At the beginning of the intervention, pupils possessed detailed information about the rational use of medicines; however, they did not refer to the role of pharmacy as a source of medicine information which they did after the intervention. They were also more aware particularly how to store and dispose of unnecessary medicines. Their theoretical and practical knowledge related to pharmacy careers and production of medicines was enhanced.

The SSI approach by way of the three-stage model provides an excellent opportunity to schools for local co-operation with the community and familiarization with the careers. Moreover, it offers the possibility to enhance pupils’ health literacy.

The SSI approach is so far less implemented in the context of medicine education and to improve health literacy.

Digital communication supports are a relevant resource for the promotion of citizens’ health literacy. Aware of this reality, in the last quarter of 2019, health professionals of Inpatient Unit A of the Neurology Service of the Coimbra Hospital and University Centre designed the ‘Digital Neuroteca’, which consists of a digital repository with various educational materials in video format, e-books, pamphlets, manuals, infographics, and directories to websites that include credible information, and other content selected by the health team. The selection criteria consider the clarity and credibility of the information in various areas such as risk factors of neurological disease, strategies, and products to support self-care and available resources. Regarding more complex contents, there is a concern to transform them into information accessible to citizens in general. These contents are accessed by patients/caregivers through a tablet/computer, in the presence of the health professional, and can also be sent by email. We got positive results with an increase of satisfaction of those involved – patients, caregivers, and professionals. Health professionals and patients/caregivers reported high satisfaction with the use of this resource given the clarity of the contents, which facilitate understanding and meet their needs, recognizing this tool as an excellent complement to the process of health literacy promotion.