IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/hepoli/v123y2019i1p11-20.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Framing health literacy: A comparative analysis of national action plans

Author

Listed:
  • Weishaar, Heide
  • Hurrelmann, Klaus
  • Okan, Orkan
  • Horn, Annett
  • Schaeffer, Doris

Abstract

Population and individual deficits in health literacy, and their associated negative health outcomes, have received growing attention in the political arena in recent years. In order to respond to the problem, several governments have adopted national action plans, which outline strategies to improve health literacy. Drawing on the action plans of the USA, Australia, Scotland, and Wales and applying Entman’s concept of framing, this paper analyses how health literacy debates are framed within the political arena as well as the factors that influence framing. Analysing data from policy documents and in-depth expert interviews, this paper identifies relevant frames developed to (i) define the problem of limited health literacy, (ii) provide causal explanations, (iii) rationalise why health literacy requires political action, and (iv) present solutions. The findings indicate that the malleability of the concept allows that a diversity of frames and solutions are promoted, yet risks that debates remain vague. Health literacy seems to have been successfully used to instigate political debates about health system reforms, patient empowerment, and shared decision making. The analysis suggests that health literacy might, if applied strategically, help to focus policy debates on key public health problems and the development of systemic solutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Weishaar, Heide & Hurrelmann, Klaus & Okan, Orkan & Horn, Annett & Schaeffer, Doris, 2019. "Framing health literacy: A comparative analysis of national action plans," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(1), pages 11-20.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:123:y:2019:i:1:p:11-20
    DOI: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2018.11.012
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168851018306584
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.healthpol.2018.11.012?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nutbeam, Don, 2008. "The evolving concept of health literacy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(12), pages 2072-2078, December.
    2. Katherine E. Smith, 2014. "The politics of ideas: The complex interplay of health inequalities research and policy," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 41(5), pages 561-574.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Doris Schaeffer & Svea Gille & Klaus Hurrelmann, 2020. "Implementation of the National Action Plan Health Literacy in Germany—Lessons Learned," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-13, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Maricel G. Santos & Anu L. Gorukanti & Lina M. Jurkunas & Margaret A. Handley, 2018. "The Health Literacy of U.S. Immigrant Adolescents: A Neglected Research Priority in a Changing World," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-18, September.
    2. Chiao Ling Huang & Shu-Ching Yang & Chia-Hsun Chiang, 2020. "The Associations between Individual Factors, eHealth Literacy, and Health Behaviors among College Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-13, March.
    3. Yuji Kanejima & Kazuhiro P. Izawa & Masahiro Kitamura & Kodai Ishihara & Asami Ogura & Ikko Kubo & Hitomi Nagashima & Hideto Tawa & Daisuke Matsumoto & Ikki Shimizu, 2022. "Health Literacy Is Associated with Activities of Daily Living of Patients Participating in Cardiac Rehabilitation: A Multicenter Clinical Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-10, December.
    4. Setti Rais Ali & Paul Dourgnon & Lise Rochaix, 2018. "Social Capital or Education: What Matters Most to Cut Time to Diagnosis?," Working Papers halshs-01703170, HAL.
    5. Samuel G Smith & Laura M Curtis & Jane Wardle & Christian von Wagner & Michael S Wolf, 2013. "Skill Set or Mind Set? Associations between Health Literacy, Patient Activation and Health," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(9), pages 1-7, September.
    6. Ying Wu & Lu Wang & Zhongyuan Cai & Luqi Bao & Pu Ai & Zisheng Ai, 2017. "Prevalence and Risk Factors of Low Health Literacy: A Community-Based Study in Shanghai, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-10, June.
    7. Mitja Vrdelja & Sanja Vrbovšek & Vito Klopčič & Kevin Dadaczynski & Orkan Okan, 2021. "Facing the Growing COVID-19 Infodemic: Digital Health Literacy and Information-Seeking Behaviour of University Students in Slovenia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-16, August.
    8. Patrizio Zanobini & Chiara Lorini & Alberto Baldasseroni & Claudia Dellisanti & Guglielmo Bonaccorsi, 2020. "A Scoping Review on How to Make Hospitals Health Literate Healthcare Organizations," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-16, February.
    9. Yoon K Loke & Ina Hinz & Xia Wang & Gill Rowlands & David Scott & Charlotte Salter, 2012. "Impact of Health Literacy in Patients with Chronic Musculoskeletal Disease–Systematic Review," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(7), pages 1-8, July.
    10. Padmore Adusei Amoah, 2019. "The Relationship between Functional Health Literacy, Self-Rated Health, and Social Support between Younger and Older Adults in Ghana," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-14, August.
    11. Ana Cristina Cabellos-García & Enrique Castro-Sánchez & Antonio Martínez-Sabater & Miguel Ángel Díaz-Herrera & Ana Ocaña-Ortiz & Raúl Juárez-Vela & Vicente Gea-Caballero, 2020. "Relationship between Determinants of Health, Equity, and Dimensions of Health Literacy in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-13, March.
    12. Musharraf Cyan & Michael Price & Mark Rider, 2017. "A Health Literacy RCT toward Improvement of Programmatic Outcomes of Tuberculosis Control in the Tribal Areas of Pakistan Governance Support Program Post-Crisis," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1711, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    13. Shuaijun Guo & Xiaoming Yu & Orkan Okan, 2020. "Moving Health Literacy Research and Practice towards a Vision of Equity, Precision and Transparency," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-14, October.
    14. Seung Pil Lee, 2020. "Sustainable Reciprocity Mechanism of Social Initiatives in Sport: The Mediating Effect of Gratitude," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-18, November.
    15. Hannah R. Goss & Craig Smith & Laura Hickey & Johann Issartel & Janis Morrissey & Celine Murrin & Ailbhe Spillane & Sarahjane Belton, 2022. "Using Co-Design to Develop a Health Literacy Intervention with Socially Disadvantaged Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-16, April.
    16. Chiara Lorini & Veronica Velasco & Guglielmo Bonaccorsi & Kevin Dadaczynski & Orkan Okan & Patrizio Zanobini & Luca P. Vecchio, 2022. "Validation of the COVID-19 Digital Health Literacy Instrument in the Italian Language: A Cross-Sectional Study of Italian University Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-17, May.
    17. Hicks, Alison, 2022. "The missing link: Towards an integrated health and information literacy research agenda," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    18. Rong Yang & Danlin Li & Jie Hu & Run Tian & Yuhui Wan & Fangbiao Tao & Jun Fang & Shichen Zhang, 2019. "Association between Health Literacy and Subgroups of Health Risk Behaviors among Chinese Adolescents in Six Cities: A Study Using Regression Mixture Modeling," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-14, September.
    19. Verna B. McKenna & Jane Sixsmith & Margaret M. Barry, 2018. "A Qualitative Study of the Development of Health Literacy Capacities of Participants Attending a Community-Based Cardiovascular Health Programme," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-19, June.
    20. Simon Blaschke & Johannes Carl & Jan Ellinger & Ulrich Birner & Filip Mess, 2021. "The Role of Physical Activity-Related Health Competence and Leisure-Time Physical Activity for Physical Health and Metabolic Syndrome: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach for German Office Workers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-18, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:123:y:2019:i:1:p:11-20. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu or the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/healthpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.