Interdisciplinary Centre for Health Literacy Research [ICHL]

Brief description

In the second funding phase of the HLCA consortium, the research project HL-Kids-NRW will directly continue the research conducted in the project "MoMChild" in the first funding phase. In this project, the European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q) was adapted for 9- to 10-year-old children. This age-adapted version, the HLS-Child-Q15-DE was validated and is now (1) being used in a first representative survey of among children aged 9 to 10 years in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The questionnaire will also (2) be translated and (3) modified for use among children young people aged 11 to 13 years.

 

Project description

The research project HL-Kids-NRW pursues three main objectives in the second funding phase of the HLCA research consortium:

1. To conduct a representative survey of health literacy among children attending fourth grade of primary school using the adapted HLS-Child-Q15-DE questionnaire..
2. The translation of the questionnaire into English and Portuguese and, if possible, cultural adaptation of the questionaire.
3. The modification and further development of the HLS-Child questionnaire for young people aged 11 to 13 years based on the findings of the subprojects MoMChild (children aged 9 to 10 years) and MOHLAA (young people aged 14 to 17 years).

These three objectives are described in more detail below.

1. Representative Health Literacy Survey in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW)

So far, no representative data is available on the health literacy of primary school children in Germany. In order to close this research gap, a representative survey of the health literacy of fourth grade students (age: 9 to 10 years) in NRW is being conducted. For this purpose, the HLS-Child questionnaire, which was validated in the previous funding phase, will be used, which is a survey instrument of multidimensional health literacy. Therefore, the questionnaire does not only assess the difficulties children face when accessing, understanding, evaluating, and applying health-related information in the context of health care (e.g. information about diseases and their treatment), but also addresses dealing with health-related information in the contexts of disease prevention and health promotion. This type of measurement is consistent with the European Health Literacy Study as well as with the numerous international comparative studies conducted with the HLS-EU-Q. Thus, this research project connects directly to previous research efforts. However, this is the first time for an adapted version of the HLS-EU-Q to be used to assess children?s health literacy. The quality of the HLS-Child-Q has been tested qualitatively and quantitatively during the first funding phase and the questionnaire has proven to be appropriate for 9- to 10-year-old children.

The representative survey of children?s health literacy in North Rhine-Westphalia does not only provide a first-time assessment to determine the need for targeted intervention, but also an empirical examination of the factors that determine health literacy and its effect on key health outcomes, such as self-reported health status and various aspects of health behaviour.

2. Translation and cultural adaptation

The second aim of HL-Kids-NRW is to translate the questionnaire into English and Portuguese. The English translation is intended to make the questionnaire generally available to the international research community; the Portuguese translation will be conducted in light of a planned national survey of children?s health literacy in Portugal. For this purpose, established cooperations with researchers in Portugal will be used to allow field access to the target group. The translation and adaptation of the HL-Child-Q15 will enable comprehensive surveys in the international context.

3. Adaptation for young people aged 11 to 13

Lastly, we aim to develop a questionnaire to measure the health literacy of 11-13 year olds. This will close the gap between the research conducted in the HLCA projects MoMChild (questionnaire for 9- to 10-year-olds) and MOHLAA (questionnaire for 14- to 17-year-olds) and enable a continuous assessment of health literacy in the life course.

Here you can find furthe information about the HLCA- research network.

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