ArticlePloS one2023
How socioeconomically disadvantaged people access, understand, appraise, and apply health information: A qualitative study exploring health literacy skills.
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed.
- Implementation intentions as an acceptable health behaviour change strategy? Insights from people with lower socio-economic position in think-aloud interviews.British journal of health psychology · 2026Article
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- Distributed Health Literacy Among People With Intellectual Disability, Their Supporters and Healthcare Professionals: A Scoping Review.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026Article
- Evaluation of Readability in Patient Education Materials for Primary Hyperparathyroidism.Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education · 2026Article
- Quality of Life Impact of Velopharyngeal Insufficiency: The Role of Social Determinants of Health.The Laryngoscope · 2026Article
- Health Literacy and Access to Care among Patients with and Without Traumatic Brain Injury: An All of Us Analysis.NeuroRehabilitation · 2026Article
- Effects of education level on hypertension, diabetes, and Dyslipidemia among residents in Hezhang County.Preventive medicine reports · 2026Article
- Role of Shame and Concealment in Patient-Provider Communication Among Individuals With Low Health Literacy: Protocol for a Scoping Review.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- eHealth literacy in older patients with cardiovascular disease: latent profile analysis and associated factors.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Managing complexities of inflammatory rheumatic diseases as a migrant-a qualitative exploration of health literacy experiences.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- An overview of PLOS curated collection in health literacy.PloS one · 2026Article
- Patients and Communities Shape Regional Health Research Priorities: A Participatory Study from South Tyrol, Italy.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Implementation Barriers to Effective Nursing Interventions in Oncology Nursing Care in Saudi Arabia: A CMO Realist Evaluation.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- IMPACT AND HEALTHCARE UTILIZATION PATTERNS OF AN ORTHOPEDIC TELEMEDICINE PROGRAM IN BRAZIL.Acta ortopedica brasileira · 2025Article
- The open health-promoting activities programme: redefining health promotion and family dynamics by engaging parents in socioeconomically deprived Swedish communities.BMC public health · 2025Article
- A spot review on relations between socioeconomic aspect and clinical recurrence of cholesteatoma.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2025Article
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- Health literacy and chronic disease: a comparison of somatic and mental illness.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Development and Evaluation of 4 Short, Animated Videos for Women in Midlife Promoting Positive Health Behaviors: Survey Study.Interactive journal of medical research · 2024Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesHealth literacy, or a person's competence to access, understand, appraise and apply health information, can be considered a mediating factor between socioeconomic characteristics and health disparities. Socioeconomically disadvantaged people in particular present with less health literacy skills. To develop targeted interventions tailored to their real needs, it is important to understand how they function and what difficulties they encounter when dealing with health information. The purpose of this study was to explore their experiences when accessing, understanding, appraising, and applying health information in their everyday lives.
methodsSemi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with 12 socioeconomically disadvantaged adults living in the community in Switzerland (age range: 44-60 years old).
resultsThematic analysis of the interviews yielded four themes, describing the health literacy processes of participants, related barriers, and compensatory strategies used: Financial insecurity triggers the need for health information; Pathway 1: Physicians as ideal (but expensive) interlocutors; Pathway 2: The internet as a suboptimal alternative; and Pathway 3: Relatives as a default resource. The progression of socioeconomically disadvantaged people in the health literacy process is like an 'obstacle course', with numerous steps taken backwards before they can develop compensatory strategies to overcome the barriers to obtaining health information.
conclusionsFinancial deprivation seems to be the most important factor contributing to health literacy barriers. Appraising health information is the health literacy skill with which socioeconomically disadvantaged people struggle the most. Physician-based, individual skills-based, organizational, and policy-based interventions are needed to help them overcome their health literacy challenges.
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