Deborah Begoray|Becky Kwan
A Canadian exploratory study to define a measure of health literacy
University of Victoria|University of British Columbia
study undertook qualitative exploration operational definition health literacy examination quantitative measures health literacy skills interviewed 229 older canadian adults first engaged openended discussions search information selfselected health topic next administered nine selfreport items health literacy skills taskperformance items taskperformance questions based two published reading passages five levels difficulty measure understanding healthrelated material rapid estimate adult literacy medicine realm also administered comparison criterionrelated validity openended questions elicited responses processes people undergo attempt access understand appraise communicate health information qualitative findings revealed complexities participants interpretation meaning four health literacy skills descriptive findings add new knowledge health literacy construct participants agreed selfreport statements thus indicating high belief health literacy realm scores ranged 45 66 average 65 standard deviation 25 quantitative scores reading passages modestly correlated scores realm sum scale selfreport items however correlate taskperformance items suggesting different types items may measuring construct suggest selfreport items need development validation study makes contribution exploring complexities measuring health literacy skills general health contexts