The Level of Health Literacy in the Dimension of Disease Prevention among Graduates from the Teaching Study Programme
The Level of Health Literacy in the Dimension of Disease Prevention among Graduates from the Teaching Study Programme

Author(s): Michaela Hřivnová, Tereza Sofková, Marie Chrásková
Subject(s): Education, Higher Education , Health and medicine and law
Published by: Masarykova univerzita nakladatelství
Keywords: health literacy; disease prevention; future teachers; Teaching study programme; Teaching health education for elementary schools;
Summary/Abstract: The level of health literacy in the adult population in the Czech Republic is lower than desirable and therefore, strategic procedures are in place that should increase the level of health literacy among Czech citizens. One of the priority areas defined in Development of health literacy for 2015–2020 is the area of education and schooling. It is therefore desirable to identify the current level of health literacy among teachers and at the same time develop it so that health literate teachers are able to perform effective interventions and develop health literacy in their students. The objective of the paper is to evaluate the level of health literacy among future teachers – students in their final year of the Teaching study programme at the Faculty of Education, Palacký University Olomouc in the dimension of disease prevention. The research was carried out in 2018/2019 and involved 180 respondents in the final year of the Teaching study programme at the Faculty of Education, Palacký University Olomouc. The authors used a research instrument designed by the WHO and provided by the National Institute of Public Health in Prague. Applicable methodology for data analysis and evaluation was observed. The results of the research suggest that future teachers have an insufficient level of health literacy in the area of disease prevention. Despite the fact that students of Teaching health education for elementary schools show a higher average health literacy index in the area of disease prevention compared with students of different teacher training programmes, the difference is not statistically significant. At the same time, future teachers have a lower level of health literacy compared with Czech adults, as suggested by the results of research studies aimed at the general population. These findings emphasise the need to search for functional strategic instruments to increase the level of health literacy among teacher training graduates, because these are the ones who will develop health literacy of the young generation.

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