American Journal of Health Education
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Health Literacy and Health Education: Research
and Practical Applications
Kerry J. Redican
To cite this article: Kerry J. Redican (2021) Health Literacy and Health Education: Research
and Practical Applications, American Journal of Health Education, 52:6, 321-322, DOI:
10.1080/19325037.2021.1985021
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/19325037.2021.1985021
Published online: 21 Oct 2021.
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AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HEALTH EDUCATION
2021, VOL. 52, NO. 6, 321–322
https://doi.org/10.1080/19325037.2021.1985021
INTRODUCTION
Health Literacy and Health Education: Research and Practical Applications
Kerry J. Redican
Virginia Tech
Helen Osbourne1 states in her book, Health Literacy Feature articles
from A to Z, that health literacy is about communicat
Historical and Contemporary Aspects of Health Literacy in
ing health information in ways others can understand.
Certified Health Education Practice (Hedman-Robertson,
It has three central components: communication skills
Allison, Kerr and Lysoby) provides a comprehensive exam
of the person expressing a message; learning needs of
ination of health literacy and health education and in
each person. This statement underscores The Centers
particular how health literacy is incorporated into the
for Disease Control and Prevention’s statement that
NCHEC Areas of Responsibility and related competencies.
health literacy is important in both personal and
A related article, Advancing Professional Development in
organizational contexts and accomplished through:
Health Literacy: The Health Literacy Specialist Certificate
(1) emphasizing people’s ability to use health informa
Program and the Health Literacy Solutions Center
tion rather than just understand it; (2) focusing on the
(Gonzalez and Villaire) highlights the work of the
ability to make “well-informed” decisions rather than
Institute for Healthcare Advancement and the develop
“appropriate” ones; (3) incorporating a public health
ment implementation of the Health Literacy Specialist
perspective; and (4) acknowledge that organizations
Certificate Program and the Health Literacy Solutions
have a responsibility to address health literacy.2
Center which is an opportunity to connect with others
These statements provide a good context for examin
and enhance health literacy skills. The last feature article,
ing the relationship between health literacy and health
Strategies for Introductory Health Literacy Education Using
education.
Fundamental, Case-based, and Simulated Learning
Health Literacy continues to be an important com
Experiences in Undergraduate Health Education
ponent of health education regardless of the practice
(Crossman) provides a valuable look at strategies for
setting. Most, if not all of us in health education use
designing and facilitating introductory health literacy edu
and/or operationalize health literacy concepts in our
cation through a compendium of learning activities, a case-
work. Given all the recent attention on the impor
study project, and simulated learning experiences.
tance of health literacy, the Editorial Board of the
American Journal of Health Education (AJHE) felt
that it would be helpful to the profession to dedicate
Research articles
a special issue to Health Literacy and Health
Education. In Spring, an invitation to submit manu Educational Strategies for Secondary Stroke Prevention: An
scripts for the special AJHE issue on Health Literacy Integrative Literature Review (Tarihoran, Honey, Slark)
and Health Education: Research and Practical provides a review of the literature concerning secondary
Applications was widely distributed. stroke prevention that focuses on education strategies
Many excellent articles were submitted and for patients after stroke to reduce their risk of having
accepted. The majority of the articles are included in another stroke. Health literacy concepts are operationa
this issue but because of space limitations a few of the lized in Readability, Suitability, and Content Evaluation
articles will appear in a future AJHE issue. This special of Initial, Online Masking Guidance from U.S. States
issue of the American Journal of Health Education, during the COVID-19 Pandemic (McCreavy, Piccoli,
Health Literacy and Health Education: Research and Krier, Felter, van Panhuis). This study focused on eval
Practical Applications contains three feature articles, uating the readability, suitability, and content of mask
five research articles and two commentaries. ing guidance from the United States Department of State
CONTACT Kerry J. Redican [email protected] Department of Population Health Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
24061
© 2021 SHAPE America
322 K. REDICAN
and health department websites. Child Dehydration Vaccine Selfie: Why Does it Matter? (Ittefaq, Abwao,
Management: A Health Literacy-Focused Resource Ahmad Kamboh) presents an interesting perspective
Analysis (Bhavsar, Hohman, Stinson, Wallace) assesses on the COVID-19 vaccine selfie sensation
usability, accessibility, complexity, and readability of In summary, this special issue contains a balance of health
diverse pediatric dehydration educational materials. literacy and health education articles that we hope will be
A study designed to improve patient-centered chronic helpful to readers. Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Jim Eddy,
diseases management through identifying aspects of AJHE Editor-in-Chief and the American Journal of Health
health literacy for which individual refugees require Education Editorial Board for both the decision to create
additional support is presented in Development and a special issue on Health Literacy and Health Education and
Initial Validation of the Refugee Health Literacy asking me to be the Guest Editor. Special thanks to Dr. Elise
Assessment Tool (RHLAT) (Harris, Colvin, Lindner, Eifert for her excellent and tedious work on verifying article
Manganello, Mohamed, Shaw). Using health literacy references and format for each manuscript and her work on
measures to assesses the understandability and action production of the Journal.
ability of the content in a food quality screener are
presented in Utilizing Health Literacy Measures to
Assess the Content of a Food Quality Screener for Disclosure statement
Understandability and Actionability (Kotecki, Greene, No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Jones).
References
Commentaries 1. Osborne H. Health Literacy from a to Z: Practical Ways
Two insightful commentaries are included in this issue. to Communicate Your Health Message. Sudbury, MA:
Jones and Bartlett; 2005.
The first, The COVID-19 Challenge Now Is Getting Into 2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health
Heads, Arms Will Follow (O’Rourke, Iammarino) is literacy. https://www.cdc.gov/healthliteracy/index.html.
extremely relevant given vaccine hesitancy. COVID-19 Updated September 3, 2021. Accessed July 27, 2020.
