Objective: To determine the associations between health literacy, the reasons for seeking health information, and the information sources utilized by Taiwanese adults. Method: A cross-sectional survey of 752 adults residing in rural and urban areas of Taiwan was conducted via questionnaires. Chi-squared tests and logistic regression were used for data analysis. Results: Health literacy was found to be lower among adults who were older, with lower educational attainment, with lower household income, with blue-collar occupation, and living in rural areas. After socio-demographic characteristics were controlled for, adults with adequate health literacy were significantly more likely than adults with inadequate or marginal health literacy to report desires for health-related information, autonomous medical decision making, and finding information on their own, as reasons for seeking health information. Adults with inadequate or marginal health literacy were more likely to cite recommendations from medical professionals and hesitation to ask medical professionals questions as their reasons for seeking health information. Adults with adequate health literacy were significantly more likely than those with inadequate or marginal health literacy to obtain health information from the Internet, books, newspapers, and magazines, and were less likely to seek health information from alternative care providers. Conclusion: The findings suggest the need to consider target groups’ health literacy when developing health education programmes. More attention must be focused on providing interventions that motivate information seeking and improve information-seeking skills for adults with limited health literacy.

Health literacy (HL), which is a determinant of individuals’ health as well as a personal and public asset, can be improved by community healthcare providers (CHPs) with the capability of providing HL services. The purpose of this study was to explore CHPs’ familiarity with and attitudes toward HL and their confidence in implementing HL practices. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted involving a total of 104 CHPs from 20 public health centers in Taiwan. It was based on a structured questionnaire involving self-evaluation by participants. The scores for familiarity, attitudes, and confidence in implementing HL practices were mean = 4.36, SD = 1.99; mean = 7.45, SD = 1.93; and mean = 6.10, SD = 1.77 (out of 10 points), respectively. The results of the multiple regression analysis showed that the two independent variables of familiarity and attitude could predict confidence in implementing HL practices (R2 = 0.57, F(2101) = 58.96, p < 0.001). The CHPs surveyed were not especially familiar with HL; thus, they recognized its importance, but they lacked confidence in implementing HL practices. Increasing practitioners’ familiarity with HL may therefore boost their confidence in implementation. The research results can serve as a reference when planning HL education and training.

People with limited health literacy comprise a high-risk group for adverse health outcomes. Nurses must be made aware of the importance of health literacy and communicate with patients in plain language, which will solve the obstacles for patients using health care services. Providing health literacy education for nurses is an important strategy for health literacy practices. This study aimed to develop a refined health literacy course for nursing students and evaluate its effectiveness. The study used a single-group pre- and post-test quasi-experimental design and conducted focus group interviews. The intervention was an eight-hour course and applied team-based learning combined with various teaching methods. The study enrolled second-year nursing students of a university in eastern Taiwan via convenient sampling. A self-reported structured questionnaire was used to compare the participants’ familiarity with health literacy, attitude, confidence in oral communication, and ability in written communication before and after the course. To discuss the learning experience of the course, the study held two focus groups with 12 participants. A total of 81 participants completed the pre- and post-test questionnaires. The results showed that familiarity with health literacy ( t =9.12, t <.001), attitude ( t =4.89, t <.001), confidence in oral communication ( t =4.12, t <.001), and ability in written communication ( t =8.83, t <.001) showed improvement after the course. Data analysis of focus group interviews yielded two categories and seven themes for the learning experience, most of which showed participants’ positive learning experiences in the health literacy course. The course effectively enhanced the nursing students’ knowledge and attitude toward health literacy and the ability to communicate with patients using health literacy principles. The results can provide a reference for integrating health literacy education into the undergraduate nursing curriculum.

The aims of this study were to use latent class analysis (LCA) to identify subgroups of adults in Taiwan based on their reasons for seeking health information and to explore predictors of subgroup membership. A questionnaire survey of 752 adults from 25 communities in Taiwan was conducted. LCA was used to identify distinct classes of participants; latent class regression was performed to identify factors predicting latent class membership. Three classes emerged through LCA. The Health-Improving Group (50.40%) reported high probabilities of reasons relevant to improving their or someone else's health but low probabilities of reasons relevant to patient-provider interaction. The Active Group (32.98%) showed high probabilities of almost all of the reasons for seeking health information. The Passive Group (16.62%) showed low probabilities across all of the reasons. Compared to the Health-Improving Group, the Active Group was significantly more likely to have higher education and perceive higher information-seeking self-efficacy. The individuals in the Passive Group were significantly more likely to be male, be younger, have lower health literacy, and have fewer years of education than those in the Health-Improving Group. This LCA approach can provide important information on how communication strategies should be applied to different population subgroups.

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