Health Literate Hospital: A Qualitative Exploration of Care Providers’ and Care Costumers’ Perspectives

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 PhD in Health Education and Health Promotion, Chronic Respiratory Disease Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

2 Associate Professor of Health Education and Health Promotion, School of Public Health & Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

3 Professor of Health Education and Health Promotion, School of Public Health & Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Background and Objectives: By considering hospitals as the workplaces where health literacy problems are most frequent and extreme, exploring the health literate health care organizations’ attributes in hospital context seems inevitable. The purpose of this study was to use qualitative research method for identifying dimensions and characteristics of a Health Literate Hospital (HLH) as well as defining it.

Materials and Methods: Exploratory content-analysis, open-ended and face-to-face interviews were used to elicit participants’ perspectives. Considering maximum variety, 23 care providers and 25 care recipients in Tehran participated in interviews. According to Granheim and Landman's method using MAXQDA-10 software beside manual analysis, researchers coded transcripts and collating these codes into sub-categories and then merging them into main categories and explored dimensions of the concept.

Results: Analysis of qualitative data from 48 participants led to identification of 97 codes, 24 sub-categories and finally 12 categories including; 1) facilitating access to information and services, 2) health prevention and education strategy, 3) health literacy-oriented planning, 4) provide diverse and innovative understandable media, 5) safety-based management, 6) community partnership-based service, 7) workforce health literacy-oriented training, 8) interpersonal communication, 9) health literacy leadership, 10) clear information on costs and insurances, 11) health service coordinate with the level of individuals’ literacy, and 12) respecting clients. 

Conclusion: Finding of this study conceptualized a Health Literate Hospital (HLH) as a multi-dimensional framework encompassing twelve attributes with health literacy approach. It is hoped that findings can be useful to guide the future researches and interventions as well as to provide the clear base for planning, implementing, and evaluating interventions aimed at promoting health outcomes. These findings can inform clinical policymakers and managers in designing policies, strategic planning, and staff training programs to strengthen the institutionalization of health literacy practices in settings like hospitals.

Keywords

Acknowledgments: Authors acknowledge all participants for engaging in this research. 


Availability of data and materials: The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.


Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.


Consent for publication: Not applicable.


Ethics approval and consent to participate: This study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and received approval ethical research code from ethics Committee of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (Approval ID: IR. SBMU. PHNS. REC.1400.054: Approval Date: 2021-09-14). All participants were fully informed about the study aims prior to any participation in research activities and they had the opportunity to ask questions throughout the study. Then, the participants signed a letter of informed consent which it was clearly mentioned they are allowed to exit the study whenever they wish and for any reason. All data remained confidential and anonymized. Permission to take notes or record audio were obtained and audio files deleted after research.


Funding: This study has not financially supported by any organization.


Authors’ Contribution: F B: Validation, Methodology, Formal analysis, Resources, Writing Original Draft. S R: Software, Formal analysis, Investigation, Validation, Data Curation. M G: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing - Review & 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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Journal of Health Literacy
Volume 10, Issue 4 - Serial Number 39
October 2025
Pages 118-142

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