Teaching critical health literacy in the US as a means to action on the social determinants of health

Abstract

In spite of improvements in global health over the 20th century, health inequities are increasing. Mounting evidence suggests that reducing health inequities requires taking action on the social determinants of health (SDOH), which include income, education, employment, political empowerment and other factors. This paper introduces an alternative health education curriculum, developed by the US-based non-profit organization Just Health Action, which teaches critical health literacy as a step towards empowering people to achieve health equity. Critical health literacy is defined as an individual's understanding of the SDOH combined with the skills to take action at both the individual and the community level. Prior to describing our curricular framework, we connect the recommendations of the World Health Organization Commission on the SDOH with the objectives of the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion by arguing that achieving them is reliant on critical health literacy. Then we describe our four-part curricular framework for teaching critical health literacy. Part 1, Knowledge, focuses on teaching the SDOH and the paradigm of health as a human right. Part 2, Compass, refers to activities that help students find their own direction as a social change agent. Part 3, Skills, refers to teaching specific advocacy tools and strategies. Part 4, Action, refers to the development and implementation of an action intended to increase health equity by addressing the SDOH. We describe activities that we use to motivate, engage and empower students to take action on the SDOH and provide examples of advocacy skills students have learned and actions they have implemented.

Health Literacy amongst Health Professional University Students: A Study Using the Health Literacy Questionnaire

“…While the importance of incorporating health literacy in health professional curricula has received growing attention [25,29,54], there is limited evidence about the gaps in the health literacy knowledge amongst student groups. Our results suggest that different student groups have different health literacy profiles, indicating that a blanket approach to health literacy education may not be appropriate.…”

A Healthy Dose of Race? White Students’ and Teachers’ Unintentional Brushes with Whiteness

“…Literature in the health education field emphasises the pervasive influence of individualism as a standpoint held tightly amongst tertiary students due to their previous health education experiences (Leahy, 2013;Quennerstedt, Burrows, & Maivorsdotter, 2010). It was anticipated that this would present a significant barrier to thinking and acting in more 'socially' aware ways, and could potentially contribute to the damaging and anti-health implications of socially decontextualised thinking in educational practice, which have also been long noted (Mogford, Gould, & Devought, 2011;Whitehead & Russel, 2004;Fane & Ward, 2014).…”

The Nexus Between Health Literacy and Empowerment

“…As the authors view the issue, the important factors in the process are the individuals' competences and self-efficacy, along with critical thinking and reflection. Furthermore, health literacy is perceived as an educational tool to be used not only to empower but also to inform and enlighten individuals and communities (Mogford et al, 2011). A concept analysis identified critical health literacy as resembling empowerment (Sykes et al, 2013).…”