The way in which health literacy is embedded in the Dixon ( 1959) article promotes self-responsibility for health care. Furthermore, references are made regarding the importance of individual responsibility, the growth of voluntary insurance, and an overall increase of health literacy. These involve an increasing awareness of underserved groups, the equitable availability of public health services, and the insurance against population-wide disasters and epidemics. Dixon concludes the article with several trends that are likely to have a significant impact on the further direction of the discussions about the role of public agency for health care. Among other things, Dixon, who worked as a health commissioner at a Department of Public Health, tackles issues such as the responsibilities of public institutions for the delivery of equitable health care across all population groups, including in communities with various social, cultural, and economic needs. The article, “The Community Responsibility for Medical Care,” reveals that health literacy was used deliberately at a far earlier time than has been suggested ( Dixon, 1959). Irrespective of whether Simonds used the term “health literacy” intentionally or not, we were able to identify another source that challenges the established view as to the first use of the phrase. As Pleasant ( 2013) points out, the use was, by the author's own report, more an accident of English than an intentional representation of a singular concept. Thus, health literacy is seen as an outcome of health education meeting minimal standards for all grade levels ( Ratzan, 2001). According to Tones ( 2002), Simonds argues a case for health education with the intention that students might become as literate in health as in other curricular topics. In the article, “Health Education as Social Policy,” Simonds ( 1974) addresses the question about whether health education as a policy issue impacts health care systems, education systems, and mass communication ( Okan, 2019). It has become part of the health literacy narrative to attribute the first appearance of the phrase “health literacy” to an article published in 1974 ( Peerson & Saunders, 2009 Pleasant, 2013 Ratzan, 2001 Tones, 2002). The outline of perspectives is predicated on the premise that health literacy in its current form is not yet fully capable of realizing its self-imposed goals and that future research activities benefit from a stronger consideration of insights from research related to literacy, agency, and health inequalities.įirst Anecdotal uses of the Term “Health Literacy” Accordingly, this article aims to discern past development trajectories and current conceptualizations of health literacy, as well as to conclude with perspectives for future research on health literacy. At the same time, this approach uncovers gaps in research, thus providing input for future perspectives. Such a call becomes even more emphatic given that the concept relates itself to potentials such as empowerment and health equity. It is, therefore, obvious to subject the current conceptualizations of health literacy to a critical review, as they shape our understanding about the topic and its further translation into methods, policies, or interventions. However, the portrayal of health literacy as a highly effective measure for addressing a wide range of health-related issues contrasts with the finding that its conceptual underpinnings are highly variable and sometimes inconsistent. Health literacy has, for instance, been critical to empowerment ( World Health Organization, 1998) and has even been described to be a social determinant of health ( World Health Organization, 2013). Undisputedly, the topic of health literacy has gained momentum and evolved within a fairly short period of time into a promising approach that can respond to major challenges resulting from the digital transformation for the management of health and health knowledge.
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