COVID-19 and college students: health literacy experiences and training needs.

OBJECTIVE: To explore health literacy (HL) experiences, needs, and future training directions among college students enrolled in health-related degree programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. PARTICIPANTS: Students (n = 169) enrolled in a health-related degree program at a state university in the mid-western U.S. completed an online survey. METHODS: Forty-five questions were developed assessing: (1) demographics; (2) HL; (3) health behaviors; (4) health/well-being; and (5) academic/financial impacts. A HL score across four domains (access, understand, appraise, apply) was calculated. Participants were categorized as having sufficient or insufficient HL. Associations between HL and categorical variables were tested (Chi-square/Fisher's exact tests). Comparisons between sufficient and insufficient HL were performed (Wilcoxon rank-sum tests). RESULTS: Participants had sufficient (55.6%) and insufficient (44.4%) HL. Age was statistically significant with HL (p < 0.5). The top three future training needs were identified (psychological impact, diagnostic/prevention/treatment, racial/ethnic disparities). CONCLUSIONS: Emerging health professionals reported sufficient HL, yet information gaps and training needs remain.

Rebranding School Health: The Power of Education for Health Literacy.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between health and learning generally goes without question in developed countries, and has a philosophic, economic, and statutory basis. Historically, school health and school health education have evolved in response to addressing the public health needs of the times. Health literacy skills are more important now than ever. Living in an ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic reminds us of the vital role of being in control of our health, wherein health literacy plays a "life or death" role in our daily lives. METHODS: Considering the evolution of school health education, we examine the significance of health literacy in our society and schools in contemporary times. RESULTS: We must take a critical look at a place for education for health literacy and why it should be an innovative path in adaptive, reimagined, and revitalized schools. CONCLUSIONS: It is time to rebrand school health in general, and school health education specifically. Improved health literacy is an asset leading to greater opportunities for health and life-long learning.

Health Literacy and Food Literacy for K-12 Schools in the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Food literacy, a sub-area of health literacy, is achieving attention in schools, academia, research, health care, businesses, and governments worldwide. Against the current COVID-19 pandemic backdrop, the relevance of food literacy's interconnected attributes such as nutritional knowledge, food skills, and food environment is gaining traction. Enhancing health and food literacy in the K-12 school environment are important empowerment tools with the potential to reduce health inequalities as vulnerable people are at risk of limited health literacy. METHODS: We aim to clarify the meaning of food literacy and its relationship to health literacy and other factors influencing eating behavior. RESULTS: We offer a proposed conceptual model depicting connections between relevant theories and constructs in the field of health and nutrition. Concrete actions are offered that contemporary schools can take guided by the utility of the model. CONCLUSIONS: This visual can help guide schools' multidimensional health and food literacy efforts while considering the realities of the current COVID-19 pandemic context and beyond. This model will provide an overarching reference for schools to consider key constructs to support practice, research, policy, and intervention efforts to advance their health and food literacy agendas.

Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Health Literacy Research Around the World: More Important Than Ever in a Time of COVID-19.

As we write our editorial for a health literacy special issue in the midst of the international COVID-19 crisis, we take this opportunity to highlight the importance of individual, community, and population health literacy. We are not only in a "pandemic" but also an "infodemic". Health literacy is more important than ever in the face of these global health threats, which have impacted outcomes across the levels of the socio-ecological model (SEM), including individual health behaviors, family relationships, organizational behavior, state policy-making, national mortality statistics, and the international economy in the span of weeks. Our special issue sought to pull together interdisciplinary threads guided by two principles. The first was defining health literacy as essential skills and situational resources needed for people to find, understand, evaluate, communicate, and use information and services in a variety of forms across various settings throughout their life course to promote health and wellbeing. The second was the idea that enhancing health literacy in populations and systems is critical to achieving health equity. In this time of public health need across traditional borders, the inter-sectoral and international perspectives of special issue articles are more urgent than ever. A greater understanding, appreciation, and application of health literacy can support policy action on multiple levels to address major public health challenges. Health literacy should be built deliberately as a population-level resource and community asset. We have summarized the set of articles in this special issue across the levels of the SEM, hoping their thoughtful considerations and interesting findings will help to support global health and wellness and inspire future research, policy, and practice in this global public health emergency and beyond.