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Highlighting The Impact of Health Literacy on Health Disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic
Keywords
Health literacy, health disparities, COVID-19
Session Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the health disparities experienced by racial and ethnic minority groups as a result of several factors including the effect of poor health literacy. The impact of poor health literacy on health outcomes and disparities will be discussed and strategies aimed at improving health literacy presented.
Session Description
Health literacy is a global problem with an estimated 776 million adults across the world lacking basic literacy skills, with individuals from racial and ethnic minority groups having higher rates of poor health literacy (Berkman et al., 2011). This is significant given the fact that persons belonging to these groups have higher rates of chronic health conditions and a higher mortality rate than Caucasians and have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic (Singh & Jemal, 2017; Vaughan et al., 2020). Individuals with a high level of health literacy are more empowered to effectively manage their health and participate in health promotion. Conversely, poor health literacy has been associated with poor health and educational outcomes (Spring, 2020).
Health and e-health literacy is vital in health promotion and disease prevention and is essential in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic given the volume of health information, information that is constantly in flux, and the need to determine credible sources of health information. Educators, as well as health care providers, can play an integral role in implementing effective strategies aimed at increasing health literacy and disease prevention and consequently improving health outcomes and disparities.