PhD supervisors:

PD Dr. Anna Levke Brütt (First supervisor)

Prof. Dr. Lena Ansmann (Second supervisor)

Academic Researcher

Mona Voigt-Barbarowicz

Student assistant

Not available

Cooperation partners:

Dr. Günter Dietz

Reha-Zentrum am Meer Bad Zwischenahn , Orthopaedic and rheumatological rehabilitation

Funding:

The establishment of the junior research group for rehabilitation sciences was financed by an endowment of the German pension insurance Oldenburg -Bremen.

Project description:

Health literacy refers to a person's ability to find, understand, assess and apply health-related information. These skills are needed to make health-related decisions. Due to the complexity of the German healthcare system and its wealth of information, patients are exposed to high demands in order to be able to adequately use health-relevant information. Healthcare professionals, such as physicians and nurses, play a special role, as they are often the first point of contact for patients´ health-related questions. In order to meet the needs of patients and to avoid communication problems between patients* and healthcare professionals, various health professionals should be able to assess as adequately as possible the patients´ health literacy. The aims of the PhD project are (1) to provide an overview of the literature, which will examine the estimation of patients´ health literacy between self-assessment and external-assessment and (2) the differences in the estimation of patients´ health literacy between different health professions and the health literacy  understanding e of different healthcare professionals. First, the current overview of the literature was compiled through a systematic review.  Furthermore, the patients´ h health literacy of selected patients* (self-assessment), called index patients, is surveyed using standardised measuring instruments (HLQ). At the same time, the healthcare professionals (physicians, physiotherapists, social workers, nurses) estimate the patients´ health literacy of the index patients* (external assessment) on the basis of comparable scales or questions on self-assessment. The sample is recruited in the inpatient setting of a rehabilitation facility. The evaluations include descriptive statistics, measures of observer agreement (Cohen's Kappa) and correlation measures (correlations). Finally, it will be explored whether there are differences between individual healthcare professionals in terms of knowledge and understanding. For the survey focus groups with different healthcare professionals will be conducted in the inpatient setting of a hospital.