Interdisciplinary Centre for Health Literacy Research [ICHL]

Project duration: 04/2018- 03/2021

Project management: Prof'in Dr. Doris Schaeffer, Dr. Annett Horn

Project team: Nina Lüke, Lara Sommer

Background

Digital change is now impacting all areas of life and society and is also increasingly becoming part of the healthcare sector. The digitalization of the health care system has led to a multitude of digital health applications in various forms and the way and access to digital health information has also changed. 90% of all German households have internet access and use internet-based applications for more than three hours a day. Older people are also showing a willingness to participate in the digitalization of their health and there is an increasing trend towards the use of digital services. However, specific skills are needed to find one's way in the digitalized health care system. These are summarized under the term 'eHealth Literacy'. eHealth Literacy can contribute to maintaining health, coping with chronic illness and has the potential to strengthen the autonomy and participation of the target population.

Objectives

The aim of the project is

1. to investigate how interventions to promote eHealth Literacy among older people with health impairments need have to be designed and to determine the specific characteristics that have to be considered,

2. to develop and test an intervention to promote eHealth literacy among older people at risk of chronic diseases and care dependency.

Approach

1. Performance of a systematic literature analysis to identify already existing international, evidence-based, multidimensional interventions and good practice examples aiming at strengthening eHealth literacy of older people.

2. Empirical analysis of eHealth literacy among older people and their needs concerning a training provision (focus groups and quantitative data collection).

3. Conception of an intervention to promote eHealth Literacy in the target population.

4. Testing and validation of the intervention.

This project is part of the research network förges.

Cooperation

Funded by

- A longitudinal analysis of information- and participation behaviour

Link: Information for participants (not translated)

Duration
12/2017 - 12/2019

Projectteam
Dr. Eva-Maria Berens (Project coordination)
Dr. Sandra van Eckert (Projektmitarbeiterin), Brandenburgische TU Cottbus-Senftenberg, Institut für Gesundheit, FG Gesundheitswissenschaften

Cooperation partner
Prof. Dr. Petra Kolip, Bielefeld University, School of Public Health, WG 4 Prevention and Health Promotion
Prof. Dr. Jacob Spallek, Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, Institute of Health, FG Health Sciences
Prof. Dr. Doris Schaeffer, Bielefeld University, School of Public Health, WG 6 Health Services Research and Nursing Science

Project funding

Own resources of the School of Public Health, Bielefeld University and the Department of Health Sciences, Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg

Background

Mammography screening is offered to women from the age of 50 to 69 as a measure for early detection of breast cancer. Themammography screening, however hassome advantages as well as drawbacks. Therefore informed choice for or against participation in the mammography screening programme plays an important role. Therefore, the first InEMa Survey (2012-2014) examined theproportion of informedchoices for or against participation in the mammography screening program among the German population and especially among women with a Turkish migration background. Furthermore, it was assessed which personal and environmental factors affect informed choice for or against participation in the screening programme.The results showed that only about 27 percent of the women made an informed choice for or against participation. Among womenwith aTurkish migration background the proportion was even lower.

Objective

The aim of the project is

• to carry out a longitudinal study of informed choice and "screening careers",
• to add current behaviour, information and attitude to the already existing data on participation behavior and informed choice at the initial decision for or against the participation in the screening,
• to consider other relevant topics (such as diagnostic aspects and health literacy).

Approach

About 1000 women who have already participated in the first InEMa study will be invited again to complete a postal questionnaire about several aspects of participation, the informed choice and other relevant issues.

Background and aims
According to the first representative German Health Literacy Survey (HLS-GER) the majority of the population in Germany - specifically 54.3% - has limited health literacy. Following the example of health literacy initiatives in other countries, a National Action Plan was developed in order to improve this situation and to help the topic to gain greater relevance in politics and among important stakeholders. The action plan lists the most important challenges for improving health literacy and presents 15 concrete recommendations in four areas of action.

Objectives
The action plan, presented to the Minister of Health in 2018, was developed by a group of experts and agreed with representatives of politics and society, members of various health professions, representatives of civil society organisations as well as patient and citizen representatives. The implementation of the action plan is accompanied by various expert workshops in which individual recommendations of the National Action Plan are focussed, intensively discussed and translated into realisable goals. The results of the workshops are incorporated into policy papers, which are successively published and brought together and discussed at a conference.

Detailed Information

•  More information on the National Action Plan
•  Download National Action Plan Health Literacy
•  Download Policy Papers
•  Current results on health literacy in Germany
•  Publication list

Project management

Prof. Dr. Doris Schaeffer, Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Nursing Science (IPW) (lead), Prof. Dr. Ullrich Bauer,Faculty of Educational Science,Center for Prevention and Intervention in Childhood and Adolescence (CPI), Bielefeld University,Prof. Dr. Klaus Hurrelmann, Hertie School, Berlin, Dr. Kai Kolpatzik, Federal Association AOK

Coordination
Dr. Annett Horn

Project team
Svea Gille

Duration
02/2016 - 09/2020

Project funding

The Faculty of Health Sciences at Bielefeld University and the Department of Health and Economics at Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences launched a joint research cooperation that also serves to promote young scientists. Funded by the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Research of North Rhine-Westphalia, the research alliance aims to address socio-demographic and epidemiological change, which poses major challenges for the entire healthcare system - including nursing. Challenges are apparent here, among other things, in the area of prevention of and in the need for care, in the different areas of nursing care and among different user groups, as well as in the long-lamented lack of patient and user orientation. The research network aims to contribute to overcoming these challenges. It concentrates on two main topics:

• regionally differentiated care concepts
• promotion of health literacy and self-management in the different phases of the life course

Project management

Prof. Dr. Doris Schaeffer, Prof. Dr. Kerstin Hämel, Prof. Dr. Annette Nauerth

Contact

Universität Bielefeld: Prof. Dr. Kerstin Hämel

Fachhochschule Bielefeld: Elke Rosowski, Dr. Renate von der Heyden 

Homepage des Forschungsverbundes

Duration
10/2013 - 2016

Project management
Prof. Dr. Doris Schaeffer, Dr. Gudrun Quenzel

Project team
Melanie Messer (bis 12/2015)

Project funding
Landeszentrum Gesundheit Nordrhein-Westfalen

Background/objectivesOlder people, people with a migration background and younger people with a low educational and social status are exposed to particular health risks. At the same time, they run the risk of not receiving the care they need, or receiving it inadequately. Strengthening their competence so that they can successfully engage in maintaining their health and providing needs-based care has therefore become an increasingly important task that is essential, especially for vulnerable groups. However, in order to address this task and develop targeted interventions, there is a lack of differentiated empirical data.

The project therefore aims to survey the health literacy of vulnerable groups in NRW in a cross-sectional survey. The survey was based on the European Health Literacy Survey (HLS-EU), which was extended to include target group-specific aspects. Approximately 1,000 people were used for the sample. Half of the sample is made up of young people between 15 and 25 years of age, with a maximum of a secondary school leaving certificate as the highest level of education. Older people over the age of 65 make up the other half. In both groups, special importance was also attached to interviewing people with an immigrant background.

The results of the analysis deepen our knowledge of the health literacy of vulnerable groups and form an important basis for the development of tailored, target-group-specific prevention and intervention programs.

You can find the results report here:

• Abstract
• Volltext

New Publication
Health Literacy - Forschungsstand und Perspektiven
edited by Doris Schaeffer and Jürgen Pelikan

Duration
12/2013 - 12/2016

Project management
Prof. Dr. Doris Schaeffer

Project team
Eva-Maria Berens, Dominique Vogt

Project funding
Bundesministerium der Justiz und für Verbraucherschutz (BMJV)

Background
People whose health literacy is limited run the risk of receiving inadequate treatment and care services in the event of illness. Appropriate information and advice are therefore particularly important for this group of people, but they reach them only inadequately. .

Objective

The aim of the project was, on the one hand, to collect data on the health literacy, life and health situation, and information and counseling needs of people living in Germany. On the other hand, the focus was on developing a collection of materials and methods that increase user orientation in counseling and thus help to improve counseling for people with low health literacy.

Subproject I: Collection of representative data on health literacy in Germany

First, a survey representative of Germany was conducted on health literacy and on the life and health situation. The sample consisted of 2,000 respondents aged 15 and older. By means of this nationwide survey, data on health literacy of the population in Germany were obtained. The results report can be found here.

Subproject II: Development of a collection of materials and methods for consultation

In addition, a systematic survey of problems and approaches in health counseling with people with low health literacy was conducted. Based on the results of the representative survey and the group discussions with health counselors, a collection of materials and methods to support counselors was developed and tested.

The collection of materials and methods can be found here.

Duraiton
2002-2004

Project management
Prof. Dr. Doris Schaeffer, Prof. Dr. Klaus Hurrelmann, PD Dr. Marie-Luise Dierks

Project funding

Central Associations of Health Insurance Funds (SpiK)

Publications

• Schaeffer, D./Schmidt-Kaehler, S. (Hg.) (2006): Patientenberatung. Ein Lehrbuch. Bern: Huber
• Schaeffer, D. (2006): Bedarf an Patienteninformationen über das Krankenhaus. Eine Literaturanalyse. Herausgegeben von der Bertelsmann Stiftung. Gütersloh: Bertelsmann Stiftung
• Krause, H./Schaeffer, D. (2005): Unabhängige Patientenberatung und Nutzerinformation in Deutschland – Resultate des dreijährigen Modellvorhabens nach § 65b SGB V. G + G Wissenschaft 5, Nr. 1, 14-22
• Schaeffer, D./Dierks, M.-L./Hurrelmann, K./Keller, A./Krause, H./Schmidt-Kaehler, S./Seidel, G. (2005): Evaluation der Modellprojekte zur unabhängigen Patientenberatung und Nutzerinformation. Bern: Huber
• Seidel, G./Dierks, M.-L. (2005): Ergebnisse zur Evaluation der Modellprojekte der unabhängigen Patientenberatung und Nutzerinformation nach § 65b SGB V – Nutzer-Anfrage-Dokumentation. Veröffentlichungsreihe des Instituts für Pflegewissenschaft, P05-127. Bielefeld: IPW
• Seidel, G./Dierks, M.-L. (2005): Ergebnisse zur Evaluation der Modellprojekte der unabhängigen Patientenberatung und Nutzerinformation nach § 65b SGB V – Nutzerbefragung. Veröffentlichungsreihe des Instituts für Pflegewissen-schaft, P05-128. Bielefeld: IPW
• Dierks, M.-L./Schaeffer, D. (2004): Informationen über die Qualität der gesundheitlichen Versorgung – Erwartungen und Forderungen der Patienten. In: Klauber, J./Robra, B.-P./Schellschmidt, H. (Hg.): Krankenhaus-Report 2004. Schwerpunkt: Qualitätstransparenz – Instrumente und Konsequenzen. Stuttgart: Schattauer, 135-150
• Ewers, M./Badura, B. (2004): Kooperation und Netzwerkbildung der unabhängigen Patientenberatung und Nutzerinformation nach § 65b SGB V. Veröffentlichungsreihe des Instituts für Pflegewissenschaft, P04-125. Bielefeld: IPW
• Krause, H./Keller, A./Schmidt-Kaehler, S. (2004): Perspektiven der Patientenberatung in Deutschland. Ergebnisse einer bundesweiten Expertenbefragung. Abstract. Das Gesundheitswesen 66, Nr. 8/9, 644-645
• Krause, H./Keller, A./Schmidt-Kaehler, S. (2004): Unabhängige Patienteninformation und Verbraucherberatung in Deutschland – Evaluationsergebnisse zum Modellvorhaben § 65b SGB V. Abstract. Journal of Public Health/ Zeitschrift für Gesundheitswissenschaften 12, Supp. 1, S14
• Krause, H./Schmidt-Kaehler, S./Keller, A./Seidel, G. (2004): Nutzerinteressen im Mittelpunkt der Patienten- und Verbraucherberatung: Ausgewählte Ergebnisse der wissenschaftlichen Begleitforschung zum Modellvorhaben nach § 65b SGB V. Das Pflegemagazin 5, Nr. 3, 4-10
• Schaeffer, D./Dierks, M.-L./Hurrelmann, K./Keller, A./Krause, H./Schmidt-Kaehler, S./Seidel, G. (2004): Evaluation der Modellprojekte zur Patienten- und Verbraucherberatung nach § 65b Sozialgesetzbuch V. Abschlussbericht der wissenschaftlichen Begleitforschung für die Spitzenverbände der GKV. Bielefeld: Fakultät für Gesundheitswissenschaften der Universität Bielefeld
• Schmidt-Kaehler, S. (2004): Ergebnisse zur Evaluation der Internetangebote der unabhängigen Patientenberatung und Nutzerinformation nach § 65b SGB V. Websiteprofile und Website-Kurzbeschreibungen. Veröffentlichungsreihe des Instituts für Pflegewissenschaft, P04-126. Bielefeld: IPW

Duration
09/2012 - 06/2013

Project management
Prof. Dr. Doris Schaeffer, Dr. Annett Horn

Student assistants
Paul Manns (B.A.), Stefan Wollnik (B.Sc.)

Cooperation partner

Independent Patient Counseling Service Germany (UPD)

Background and objectives

Since mid-2011, the Independent Patient Counseling Germany (UPD) has been offering counseling in Turkish and Russian in four of the regional counseling centers (Stuttgart, Berlin, Dortmund and Nuremberg) to complement its existing independent information and counseling services. The aim of the project was to evaluate this service and to develop suggestions for optimizing the accessibility of the target group (people with Turkish-speaking and Russian-speaking migrant backgrounds). Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Approach

The evaluation was based on qualitative and quantitative data: on guided interviews with Turkish- and Russian-speaking users or potential users, on focus group interviews with designated experts and on a document analysis. The evaluation of these data was to serve as a basis for developing recommendations for action for a target group-specific design of patient information and counseling.

Publications
Horn, A./Schaeffer, D. (2013): Evaluation der Patienteninformation und -beratung für türkisch- und russischsprachige Migrantinnen und Migranten. Abschlussbericht für die Unabhängige Patientenberatung Deutschland (UPD), Berlin.