Health literacy of fourth grade students: preliminary findings from a classroom survey

Bollweg TM. Health literacy of fourth grade students: preliminary findings from a classroom survey. European Journal of Public Health. 2017;27(Suppl. 3)

Do adolescents understand the items of the European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q47) – German version? Findings from cognitive interviews of the project “Measurement of Health Literacy Among Adolescents” (MOHLAA) in Germany

Domanska OM, Firnges C, Bollweg TM, Sørensen K, Holmberg C, Jordan S. Do adolescents understand the items of the European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q47) – German version? Findings from cognitive interviews of the project “Measurement of Health Literacy Among Adolescents” (MOHLAA) in Germany. Archives of Public Health. 2018;76(1): 46

Development of a health literacy measurement tool for primary school children in Germany

Bollweg TM, Okan O, Pinheiro P, Bauer U. Development of a health literacy measurement tool for primary school children in Germany. In: European Journal of Public Health. Vol 26. Oxford University Press (OUP); 2016: 68

Development and Psychometric Properties of a Questionnaire Assessing Self-Reported Generic Health Literacy in Adolescence

Domanska OM, Bollweg TM, Loer A-K, Holmberg C, Schenk L, Jordan S. Development and Psychometric Properties of a Questionnaire Assessing Self-Reported Generic Health Literacy in Adolescence. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020;17(8): 2860.Health literacy is a promising approach to promoting health and preventing disease among children and adolescents. Promoting health literacy in early stages of life could contribute to reducing health inequalities. However, it is difficult to identify concrete needs for action as there are few age-adjusted measures to assess generic health literacy in young people. Our aim was to develop a multidimensional measure of health literacy in German to assess generic health literacy among 14- to 17-year-old adolescents, namely, the “Measurement of Health Literacy Among Adolescents Questionnaire” (MOHLAA-Q). The development process included two stages. Stage 1 comprised the development and validation using a literature review, two rounds of cognitive interviews, two focus groups and two rounds of expert assessments by health literacy experts. Stage 2 included a standard pretest (n = 625) of the questionnaire draft to examine the psychometric properties, reliability and different validity aspects. The MOHLAA-Q consists of 29 items in four scales: (A) “Dealing with health-related information (HLS-EU-Q12-adolescents-DE)”; (B) “Communication and interaction skills”, (C) “Attitudes toward one’s own health and health information”, and (D) “Health-related knowledge”. The confirmatory factor analysis indicated a multidimensional structure of the MOHLAA-Q. The internal consistency coefficients (Cronbach’s α) of the scales varied from 0.54 to 0.77. The development of the MOHLAA-Q constitutes a significant step towards the comprehensive measurement of adolescents’ health literacy. However, further research is necessary to re-examine its structural validity and to improve the internal consistency of two scales

Measuring children’s health literacy. Current approaches and challenges

Bollweg TM, Okan O. Measuring children’s health literacy. Current approaches and challenges. In: Okan O, Bauer U, Levin-Zamir D, Pinheiro P, Sørensen K, eds. International handbook of health literacy. Research, practice and policy across the life-span. Bristol: Policy Press; 2019: 83-97

Adapting the HLS-EU questionnaire for children aged 9 to 10. Exploring factorial validity

Bollweg TM, Okan O, Bröder J, Bauer U, Pinheiro P. Adapting the HLS-EU questionnaire for children aged 9 to 10. Exploring factorial validity. In: European Journal of Public Health. Vol 28. Oxford University Press (OUP); 2018: 219-219

Child and Youth Health Literacy: A Conceptual Analysis and Proposed Target-Group-Centred Definition.

Bröder J, Okan O, Bollweg TM, Bruland D, Pinheiro P, Bauer U. Child and Youth Health Literacy: A Conceptual Analysis and Proposed Target-Group-Centred Definition. International journal of environmental research and public health. 2019;16(18): 3417.(1) Background: This article adopts an interdisciplinary perspective to analyse, examine, and reflect upon prominent health literacy (HL) understandings in childhood and youth. (2) Method: The conceptual analysis combined Rodgers' and Jabareen's approaches to conceptual analysis in eight phases. (3) Results: First, we present exploratory entry points for developing a child-specific HL understanding based on the six dimensions of a 'health-literacy 6D model'. Second, we describe and reflect upon five meta-level dimensions covering the HL definitions and models for children and youth found in the conceptual analysis. Third, we integrate our findings into a target-group-centred HL definition for children and youth. (4) Discussion/Conclusion: This article raises awareness for the heterogeneity of the current conceptual HL debate. It offers a multidisciplinary approach for advancing the existing understanding of HL. Four recommendations for future actions are deduced from the following four principles, which are inherent to the proposed target-group-centred HL definition: (a) to characterize HL from an asset-based perspective, (b) to consider HL as socially embedded and distributed, (c) to recognize that HL develops both in phases and in flexible ways, and (d) to consider the multimodal nature of health-related information. Further research is necessary to test the feasibility and applicability of the proposed definition and conceptual understanding in both research and practice

Generic health literacy measurement instruments for children and adolescents:a systematic review of the literature

Background Health literacy is an important health promotion concern and recently children and adolescents have been the focus of increased academic attention. To assess the health literacy of this population, researchers have been focussing on developing instruments to measure their health literacy. Compared to the wider availability of instruments for adults, only a few tools are known for younger age groups. The objective of this study is to systematically review the field of generic child and adolescent health literacy measurement instruments that are currently available. Method A systematic literature search was undertaken in five databases (PubMed, CINAHL, PsycNET, ERIC, and FIS) on articles published between January 1990 and July 2015, addressing children and adolescents ?18 years old. Eligible articles were analysed, data was extracted, and synthesised according to review objectives. Results Fifteen generic health literacy measurement instruments for children and adolescents were identified. All, except two, are self-administered instruments. Seven are objective measures (performance-based tests), seven are subjective measures (self-reporting), and one uses a mixed-method measurement. Most instruments applied a broad and multidimensional understanding of health literacy. The instruments were developed in eight different countries, with most tools originating in the United States (n =?6). Among the instruments, 31 different components related to health literacy were identified. Accordingly, the studies exhibit a variety of implicit or explicit conceptual and operational definitions, and most instruments have been used in schools and other educational contexts. While the youngest age group studied was 7-year-old children within a parent-child study, there is only one instrument specifically designed for primary school children and none for early years. Conclusions Despite the reported paucity of health literacy research involving children and adolescents, an unexpected number of health literacy measurement studies in children?s populations was found. Most instruments tend to measure their own specific understanding of health literacy and not all provide sufficient conceptual information. To advance health literacy instruments, a much more standardised approach is necessary including improved reporting on the development and validation processes. Further research is required to improve health literacy instruments for children and adolescents and to provide knowledge to inform effective interventionspublishersversionPeer reviewe

Gesundheitskompetenz messen bei Kindern: aktuelle Ansätze und Herausforderungen

Bollweg TM, Okan O. Gesundheitskompetenz messen bei Kindern: aktuelle Ansätze und Herausforderungen. In: Bollweg TM, Bröder J, Pinheiro P, eds. Health Literacy im Kindes- und Jugendalter. Ein- und Ausblicke. Gesundheit und Gesellschaft. Wiesbaden: Springer VS; 2020: 73-98