Social participation, health literacy, and health and well-being: A cross-sectional study in Ghana

Abstract

Numerous studies attest to the salubriousness of social participation across contexts. Factors such as health-related behaviour, health risk aversion, and psychosocial traits partly explain this association. While a study of these factors contributes to an understanding of the role that social participation plays in health-related outcomes, significant gaps still exist in this field of investigation. In particular, existing studies have not explored the relationship between social participation and health literacy and how it affects health and well-being adequately. This paper addresses this gap by examining the responses of some 779 rural and urban residents in Ashanti Region in Ghana. The study used path analyses within structural equation modelling (SEM) to assess the mediational role of health literacy in the association between social participation (religious participation, volunteer activities and group membership), and health status and subjective well-being. All the proxies of social participation significantly predicted health literacy. It was also evident that social participation influences health and well-being substantially. After controlling for socio-demographic variables, religious participation and group membership indirectly predicted well-being and health status through health literacy. Volunteer activities showed a negative indirect effect; thus, social participation does not always have a favourable effect on health and well-being. However, the findings suggest that overall, enhancing social participation may be promising for effective health promotion.

Determinants and Consequences of Limited Health Literacy in Polish Society

“…According to Lorini et al [12], the HL score calculated from HLS-EU-Q16, was related only with self-perceived health status, and not with the BMI category, doctor's visits, emergency department admissions, admissions to hospital or access to outpatient specialist care. The study of Amoah [28] on the inhabitants of one region in Ghana confirmed that the level of HL enabled the prediction of health status and wellbeing. Finally, Eronen et al [40] using the Spearman correlation coefficient, demonstrated that lower HL was associated with lower cognitive status and self-assessment of health, more frequent depressive symptoms and chronic conditions, lower life-space mobility, and physical performance.…”

“…The frequency of inadequate HL was 34.3% and of problematic HL 46.7%. In turn, the study performed by Amoah [28] among inhabitants of the Ashanti Region in Ghana revealed that the frequency of inadequate HL was 24.0% and of problematic HL 38.8%.…”

“…In the Egyptian population, inadequate HL was more frequently found in males and in persons with a low level of education [7]. The study of Amoah [28] in Ghana showed that HL was associated with age, place of residence, marital status, education level and income. Recently, Eronen et al [40] carried out face-to-face interviews with a group of 292 Finns aged 75 years old in order to assess their HL.…”

“…Other studies, in which national versions of the HL questionnaire developed within the HLS-EU project were used, confirmed that low HL may be associated with people's poor self-assessment of health status [12,20], the prevalence of long-term illnesses [12], the higher utilisation of health care resources [14,21], and a lower level of physical activity [22][23][24].Although the scope of information which arises from the HLS-EU-Q47 is extensive, it appears that the size of the tool may result in reduced compliance of respondents, especially if the questionnaire is used as a part of a survey which is also focused on other issues. Therefore, a shortened but also validated, the 16-item version has been used in many surveys (HLS-EU-Q16) [5,12,[25][26][27][28][29]. The HLS-EU-Q16 questionnaire has been used not only in direct interviews with respondents [27,29] but also for telephone-based studies [12,26,30] or online surveys [31].…”

“…Although the scope of information which arises from the HLS-EU-Q47 is extensive, it appears that the size of the tool may result in reduced compliance of respondents, especially if the questionnaire is used as a part of a survey which is also focused on other issues. Therefore, a shortened but also validated, the 16-item version has been used in many surveys (HLS-EU-Q16) [5,12,[25][26][27][28][29]. The HLS-EU-Q16 questionnaire has been used not only in direct interviews with respondents [27,29] but also for telephone-based studies [12,26,30] or online surveys [31].…”