Skip to main content

Everyday Health Information Literacy of Young Finnish and Namibian Students: Is There a Difference?

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Information Literacy: Key to an Inclusive Society (ECIL 2016)

Abstract

The everyday health information literacy (EHIL) of students with different cultural backgrounds is compared. The data were collected with a self-assessment based EHIL screening tool from Namibian university students (n = 271) and Finnish upper secondary school students (n = 217). The tool corresponds to the definition of health information literacy (HIL) by the Medical Library Association. The groups were compared with cross-tabulations with Fisher’s exact tests and the group means of an EHIL sum variable with Student’s t-test. The results show that the mean scores of the EHIL sum variable do not differ between the groups. Yet, significant differences are found with regard to each of the tool’s statements. Mostly these relate to health information infrastructure, lingual issues, and reading culture. The study contributes to research on cultural differences on HIL and to validating the EHIL screening tool.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Healthy People 2010: Understanding and Improving Health. U.S. Government, Washington DC (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Baker, D.W.: The meaning and the measure of health literacy. J. Gen. Intern. Med. 21(8), 878–883 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Hirvonen, N.: Health information matters: everyday health information literacy and behaviour in relation to health behaviour and physical health among young men. Acta Universitatis Ouluensis. B, Humaniora, 133 (2015). http://jultika.oulu.fi/Record/isbn978-952-62-1040-7

  4. Niemelä, R., Ek, S., Eriksson-Backa, K., Huotari, M.-L.: A screening tool for assessing everyday health information literacy. Libri 62(2), 125–134 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Medical Library Association: What is Health Information Literacy? http://www.mlanet.org/resources/healthlit/define.html

  6. Dowse, R.: The limitations of current health literacy measures for use in developing countries. J. Commun. Healthc. 9(1), 4–6 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Dowse, R., Lecoko, L., Ehlers, M.S.: Applicability of the REALM health literacy test to an English second language South African population. Pharm. World Sci. 32(4), 464–471 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Hunt, S., Dowse, R., La Rose, C.: Health literacy assessment: relexicalising a US test for a South African population. South. African Linguist. Appl. Lang. Stud. 26(2), 267–281 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Maat, H.P., Essink-Bot, M.L., Leenaars, K.E.F., Fransen, M.P.: A short assessment of health literacy (SAHL) in the Netherlands. BMC Public Health 14(199) (2014). http://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-14-990

  10. CIMO: NSS LIS: Library and Information Studies Network. http://www.cimo.fi/programmes/north-south-south/nss-networks/lis

  11. Anasi, S.N.I.: Access to and dissemination of health information in Africa: the patient and the public. J. Hosp. Librariansh 12(2), 120–134 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Angula, N.A.: Mobile Based System for Healthcare Information Dissemination and Sharing in the Namibian Environment. https://www.acdemic.edu/16811312/_A_Mobile_Based_System_for_Healthcare_Information_Dissemination_and-Sharing_in_the_Namibian_Environment

  13. Nengomasha, C.T., Uutoni, W., Yule, W.: School libraries and their role in promoting a reading culture: a case study of Caprivi, Omusati, Omaheke, Karas, and Khomas regions in Namibia. J. Stud. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 1(1), 159–171 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Nengomasha, C.T., Abankwah, R., Uutoni, W., Pazvakawambwa, L.: Health information literacy of University of Namibia students. J. Stud. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 4(1–2), 179–192 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Heita, D.: Undisciplined Teachers a Bane to Education. Linking Libraries and Academic Achievement. http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Technology/OET/llaa/overview.html

  16. Shaw, S.J., Huebner, C., Armin, J., Orzech, K., Vivian, J.: The role of culture in health literacy and chronic disease screening and management. J. Immig. Minor. Health 11, 460–467 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Lee, S.Y., Stucky, B.D., Lee, J.Y., Rozier, R.G., Bender, D.E.: Short assessment of health literacy – Spanish and English: a comparable test of health literacy for Spanish and English speakers. Health Serv. Res. 45(4), 1105–1120 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Rodríguez, S.A., Roter, D.L., Castillo-Salgado, C., Hooker, G.W., Erby, L.H.: Translation and validation of Spanish-language genetic health literacy screening tool. Health Psychol. 34(2), 120–129 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Nguyen, T.H., Park, H., Han, H.R., Chan, K.S., Paasche-Orlow, M.K., Haun, J., Kim, M.T.: State of the science of health literacy measures: validity implications for minority populations. Patient Educ. Couns. 98(12), 1492–1512 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Lumbu, S.: The role of rural school libraries on Namibian children’s reading development. In: Paper Presented at the 3rd Annual Education Conference (EDUCon) under the theme “Teaching and Learning for Improved Educational Outcomes” in Rundu, Namibia, 10–12 September 2014 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Iyambo, A.: The Impact of School Libraries on the Reading Culture of Learners: a Comparison of Government and Private Schools in Namibia. (Unpublished Undergraduate Dissertation). University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia (2015)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maija-Leena Huotari .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG

About this paper

Cite this paper

Huotari, ML. et al. (2016). Everyday Health Information Literacy of Young Finnish and Namibian Students: Is There a Difference?. In: Kurbanoğlu, S., et al. Information Literacy: Key to an Inclusive Society. ECIL 2016. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 676. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52162-6_14

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52162-6_14

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-52161-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-52162-6

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics