Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Jul;19(4):305-14.
doi: 10.3109/11038128.2011.588724. Epub 2011 Jun 27.

Integrating health literacy into occupational therapy: findings from a scoping review

Melanie Levasseur  1 , Annie Carrier
Affiliations

Integrating health literacy into occupational therapy: findings from a scoping review

Melanie Levasseur et al. Scand J Occup Ther. 2012 Jul.

Abstract

This paper aims to report ways of integrating health literacy into occupational therapy practice. Health literacy is defined as the ability to access, understand, evaluate, and communicate information as a way to promote, maintain, and improve health in various settings over the life-course. A scoping study of the scientific and grey literature on health and, specifically, occupational therapy and health promotion was done from 1980 to May 2010. Five databases were searched by combining key words (i) "health literacy" with (ii) "rehabilitation", "occupational therapy", or "health promotion". Data were extracted from 44 documents: five textbooks, nine reports, and 29 articles. The literature on health literacy needs enhancing in both quantity and quality. Nevertheless, six ways of integrating health literacy into occupational therapy practice were identified (frequency; %): occupational therapists should (i) be informed about and recognize health literacy (27; 61.4), (ii) standardize their practice (10; 22.7), (iii) make information accessible (37; 84.1), (iv) interact optimally with clients (26; 59.1), (v) intervene (29; 65.9) and (vi) collaborate to increase health literacy (21; 47.7). Since health literacy can directly impact on intervention efficacy, further studies are needed on how to integrate health literacy into occupational therapy practice.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart of articles retrieved to articles providing ways of integrating health literacy into practice
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists. CAOT Position Statement Health and Literacy. Ottawa (Ontario): Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists; 2006.
    1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy. Washington, DC: 2010. Contract No.: Document Number|.
    1. Smith DL, Hedrick W, Earhart H, Galloway H, Arndt A. Evaluating two health care facilities’ ability to meet health literacy needs: A role for occupational therapy. Occupational Therapy in Health Care. 2010;24(4):348–59. - PubMed
    1. Institute for Healthcare Improvement. IHI at Forefront of National Program to Advance Patient Self-Management of Care. Cambridge, MA: 2007. Contract No.: Document Number|.
    1. Kickbusch I, Wait S, Maag D. Navigating Health: The Role of Health Literacy. London: 2005. Contract No.: Document Number|.

Publication types

Grants and funding