Functional health literacy for maintaining active aging and self-care

A quasi-experimental study

Bibliographic Data

ID21600982
AuthorsKrycia Renata da Rocha Conceição (0009-0007-9541-4669, Universidade Federal do Tocantins Postgraduate Program in Teaching in Science and Health), André Pontes‐Silva (0000-0002-3983-5342, Universidade Federal de São Carlos Postgraduate Program in Physical Therapy, Department of Physical Therapy), Paulo Henrique Torres De Araújo (0000-0001-9866-1672, Universidade Federal do Tocantins Postgraduate Program in Teaching in Science and Health), Lucas da Silva Sousa (0000-0002-7129-0987, Universidade Federal do Tocantins Postgraduate Program in Teaching in Science and Health), Luiz Sinesio Silva-Neto (0000-0002-3182-7727, Universidade Federal do Tocantins Postgraduate Program in Teaching in Science and Health), Fernando Rodrigues Peixoto Quaresma (0000-0001-8407-0310, Universidade Federal do Tocantins Postgraduate Program in Teaching in Science and Health), Erika Da Silva Maciel (0000-0002-9836-7665, Universidade Federal do Tocantins Postgraduate Program in Teaching in Science and Health)
Year2026
Volume126
Issue1
Pages33-44
Publication date2026-01-13
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueHealth Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0965-4283 • E-ISSN: 1758-714X
PublisherEmerald (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1108/he-01-2025-0011
OpenAlexW4413202132
LanguageEN
References cited27

Purpose To develop and apply functional health literacy strategies to promote self-care and improve the perception of quality of life in a group of active older people. Design/methodology/approach A quasi-experimental study. Findings About 41 elderly subjects participated in the study. The results of the group characterization show that most of them were women, married, illiterate or with incomplete primary education, users of the national health system and from more vulnerable economic strata. In terms of perceived quality of life, higher scores were observed in the psychological and social relationship domains. The lowest scores were observed in the physical and environmental domains. According to the WHOQOL-Old test applied at the beginning of the research and after the intervention, we observed statistically significant changes in all domains. The research showed that the interventions helped the functional health literacy of some participants and improved the self-care capacity observed at baseline. Based on the use of the ASA-A instrument, the self-care capacity of the participants, which was already excellent, improved even more. When comparing the functional health literacy scores before and after the intervention, no statistical differences were observed. Originality/value A quasi-experimental study with Brazilians aged 60–90 years. We used culturally adapted and validated instrument in Brazil to assess the level of functional literacy (B-TOFHLA), quality of life (WHOQOL-Bref and WHOQOL-OLD) and self-care abilities (ASA-A)

Health care · Health literacy · Literacy · Perception · Psychological intervention · Clinical Psychology · Global Public Health Policies and Epidemiology · Health Education and Validation · Health Literacy and Information Accessibility · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Gerontology

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