Interdisciplinary Centre for Health Literacy Research [ICHL]

The HLCA research network

The BMBF-funded collaborative project "Health Literacy in Childhood and Adolescence (HLCA) as a Goal of Health Promotion and Primary Prevention" will elaborate this desideratum both theoretically and empirically in a multidisciplinary and international manner from March 2015 to February 2018. HL basic research (AB1), mental-HL (AB2) and eHL (AB3) will be explored in three work blocks (AB) of three subprojects each. The focus will be on developing a theoretical framework for promoting HL in childhood and adolescence. Furthermore, it will focus on the development, testing and evaluation of interventions for the promotion of HL as well as prevention and health promotion using Mental HL and eHL as examples. The network will also develop, test and validate methods for assessing HL in children and adolescents. Both quantitative and qualitative methods and materials will be used. The HLCA network will promote the development, testing and practical transfer of needs-specific health promotion and primary prevention measures through the theoretically sound conceptualization of the HL concept for the target group "children and adolescents".

 

About the project

1st funding phase:

In addition to theoretical-conceptual basic research on health literacy, the focus of the first three-year funding phase is also on application and practice orientation. Thus, applied research activities are planned in areas that are of high importance for the development of child and adolescent health: 'Mental Health Literacy' and 'eHealth Literacy'. While Mental Health Literacy addresses the area of psychological health and mental well-being, eHealth Literacy focuses on the handling and application of information from the digital media world. In order to implement this research program, three work blocks are distinguished, to each of which in turn three subprojects are assigned. Their backgrounds and objectives can be found in the respective subproject areas on this website. There are three regional clusters in the HLCA network: work block 1 is implemented at the University of Bielefeld and the Robert Koch Institute Berlin, work block 2 in North Rhine-Westphalia (Bielefeld, Paderborn, Duisburg-Essen) and work block 3 in Baden-Württemberg (Freiburg). The subprojects are each coordinated by one or two project leaders who are responsible for the implementation of the work plan. In addition, a synthesis project will be implemented during the third year. The first work block (basic research), which will be carried out by staff of Bielefeld University and the RKI, consists of the projects TeCoMo ('theories, concepts and models'), MoMChild ('methods of measuring HL of children') and MOHLAA ('measurement of HL among adolescents'). The projects in work block 2 (Mental Health Literacy) are supported by the University of Bielefeld (TEACHER-MHL ? 'health promotion for children of mentally ill parents', 'assessment and promotion of teacher-specific mental health literacy') or in the context of cooperations, as in the case of the project NePP ('needs for primary prevention in families with mentally ill parents'), whose implementation is the responsibility of the Catholic University of Applied Sciences (Paderborn) and the University of Bielefeld. Also the project PROVIDER-MHL ('parents suffering from mental disorders and their unaffected children in municipal child and youth services'), is implemented by the University of Duisburg-Essen and the University of Bielefeld. The projects in work block 3 (eHealth Literacy) are carried out by the University of Education Freiburg. The research program of the HLCA network will be complemented by a cross-block project (SyntHLCA), which will synthesize the results of the individual subprojects in the last funding year and develop political and strategic recommendations for action on this basis, including health economic analyses as well as gender and diversity aspects.

 

2nd funding phase:

In the second funding phase, the HLCA network will continue to research health literacy in the target group of children and adolescents in the context of health promotion and primary prevention. The research focus will be shifted from more basic research to application-oriented research with significant practical relevance. The overarching goal of the second funding phase of the HLCA network is thus to generate and apply findings through application-oriented research projects in order to close the gap between science and practice or policy measures in health literacy research (?Closing the Science-to-Practice Gap?). The thematic-methodological research foci are: 1. health literacy survey research 2. health literacy intervention research 3. health literacy policy research As a fourth pillar of research, the HLCA network addresses the investigation and accompanying evaluation of the subprojects with regard to the factors of gender, diversity and health economics. Here, intersectional inequality characteristics will also be the subject of the analyses. The research results from the first funding phase, in connection with the thematic-methodological research foci, not only highlight significant and far-reaching gaps in health literacy promotion programs and strategies for children and adolescents, but themselves represent fundamental findings for activities and will be significantly incorporated into the research projects of the second funding phase. With this in mind, the goals of the second funding phase for the HLCA Collaborative and its subprojects can be described as follows:

• Conduct a representative health literacy survey of children and a population-based survey of adolescents to map the state of health literacy in younger populations in Germany and identify evidence-based needs for interventions,
• Collect and inventory health literacy interventions for children and adolescents and develop, implement, and evaluate their own interventions (e.g., support programs and policies), including those for professionals working with the target population (e.g., teachers, educators, and social workers),
• Increasing the uptake of services and interventions in the target groups,
• Strengthening the knowledge base, generating knowledge in the context of health literacy disparities in the target groups, and developing a better understanding of the effects of socially determined inequalities in child and adolescent health,
• Improving the implementation capacity of actors and health literacy stakeholders from academia, practice, and policy who are responsible for implementing policies and programs at different levels,
• Promotion of capacity building for health literacy in Germany as a research location and implementation of research activities with international partners,
• Transfer and synthesis of the generated evidence to derive recommendations for policy-making processes and practical measures.

Objectives of the subprojects

• Develop a toolbox of health literacy interventions to promote health literacy in children and adolescents (Tool-HLCA), Conduct the world's first representative health literacy survey among children aged 9 and 10 years at elementary school and adapt the questionnaire for 11- to 13-year-old children (HL-Kids-NRW),
• Implementation of the first population-based health literacy survey among 14- to 17-year-old adolescents in Germany and adaptation of the questionnaire for further subgroups in the age group (MOHLAA 2),
• Development, implementation and evaluation of health literacy interventions: Mental Health Literacy Interventions for Children and Adolescents (IMPRES), e-Health literacy interventions and training programs for teachers, parents, children, and adolescents (MEDIA PROTECT, ProLifestyle, and SCURA), including an online, video, as well as app-based intervention for adolescents aged 14 to 17 (ProLifestyle),
• Monitoring and investigation of the interventions with regard to health economic and gender-related aspects (GenHEcon), Policy research and policy field analyses: analysis and inventory of policy-supported local, national and international health literacy measures and formulation of policy recommendations (PMOplus),
• Translation of research findings into practice (PMOplus and GenHEcon). The network will consist of a total of nine subprojects, which will be located at four sites: the University of Bielefeld, the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin, the Freiburg University of Education and the University of Duisburg-Essen. The thematic focus of the three work blocks of the first funding phase: Health Literacy (HL, pillar 1), Mental Health Literacy (MHL, pillar 2) and e-Health Literacy (eHL, pillar 3) will be transferred to the second funding phase, but the pillar or work block logic will dissolve for scientific and technical reasons. This step necessarily arises from both the new, application-oriented project questions and the new research structure of the HLCA Collaborative.

For more information about the HLCA joint project, please see here.