Does the Level of Functional Health Literacy among the Elderly Impact Their Ability to Comprehend and Adhere to Self-Care Instructions?

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Postgraduate Program in Teaching in Science and Health, Universidade Federal do Tocantins, Palmas, Tocantins, Brasil.

2 Universidade Federal do Tocantins, Palmas, Tocantins, Brasil.

3 Postgraduate Program in Physical Therapy, Department of Physical Therapy, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brasil

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Aging is a natural process that involves morphological, psychological, functional, and social changes. The gradual decrease in functional capacity during aging can lead to functional dependence and chronic diseases. Functional health literacy is a health education technique that promotes the individual's ability to access, read, understand, interpret, evaluate, and apply health-related information. Functional health literacy enables elderly individuals to be more active and informed about their own health, promoting self-care. to summarise research on the level of functional health literacy among the elderly and their ability to comprehend and follow self-care instructions.
 
Materials and Methods: A narrative review. The databases used to conduct the scoping review were PubMed and Scopus, using the combination of the Boolean operator "AND" and descriptors: Functional health literacy; Self-care in older adults; Functional health literacy in older adults.

Results: Research indicates that adequate adherence to disease treatment is fundamental to the effectiveness of healthcare. When older adults struggle to comprehend self-care instructions, they may face challenges in correctly adhering to medication regimens, attending follow-up appointments, or adopting healthy lifestyle practices. A low level of functional health literacy can hinder the comprehension and utilization of health-related information, such as scheduling appointments, interpreting medical exams and forms, and preventing diseases.

Conclusion: the ability of older adults to comprehend and follow self-care instructions is directly impacted by their functional health literacy level, which in turn affects their overall quality of life.
 

Keywords

Acknowledgments: We would like to thank the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), and the Universidade Federal do Tocantins (UFT).


Availability of data and materials: The data and materials in this paper are available from the corresponding author on request (André Pontes-Silva).


Conflict of interest: There are no conflicts of interest.


Consent for publication: Not applicable.


Ethical approval and consent to participate: All experiments were conducted in accordance with the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki.


Funding: This study was partially supported by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES, code 001). The funding source had no role in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, writing of the report, or in the decision to submit the article for publication. 


Authors contributions: all authors – Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Visualization, Writing (original draft, review, and editing). 

 

Open Access Policy: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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