Health literacy among residents in communities implementing healthy community initiatives

A cross-sectional study

Bibliographic Data

ID22070112
AuthorsTingjie Liu (Hangzhou Normal University, corresponding author), Dan Jiang (0000-0002-4645-7730, Hangzhou Normal University), Ruijie Cai (Hangzhou Normal University), Monan Xia (Hangzhou Normal University), Haonan He (0000-0002-1789-6259, Hangzhou Normal University), Zijia Cheng (0000-0002-0997-6080, Hangzhou Normal University), Z M Cheng (Hangzhou Normal University), Runtang Meng (0000-0002-5826-5576, Hangzhou Normal University)
Year2026
Volume14
Pages1860270-1860270
Publication date2026-06-23
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFrontiers in Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2296-2565 • E-ISSN: 2296-2565
PublisherFrontiers Media SA (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3389/fpubh.2026.1860270
PMID42415756
OpenAlexW7165634715
LanguageEN
References cited23

Objective To examine the association between healthy community construction and residents’ health literacy and to provide evidence for optimizing health promotion strategies. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted using a multi-stage random sampling method. A total of 263 residents from two health-promoting communities in Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou, were surveyed, and the data were statistically analyzed. Results The overall health literacy rate among residents was 65.78%, which was significantly higher than the reported local level in 2024 (53.18%) ( p 0.05), and a decline was noted in literacy related to safety and first aid, scientific health concepts, and basic medical care. Logistic regression analysis indicated that being married ( OR = 9.327), having chronic diseases ( OR = 7.368), and preferring a meat-based diet ( OR = 3.009) were positively associated with higher health literacy, whereas older age ( OR = 0.321) and poorer self-rated health status ( OR = 0.213) were negatively associated ( p < 0.05). Conclusion Residents from communities implementing Healthy Community initiatives showed relatively high levels of health literacy compared with district-level reference data. However, development across different dimensions remains uneven. Health education in areas such as scientific health concepts, safety and first aid, and basic medical care should be further strengthened. In addition, targeted interventions for older adults and other key populations are needed to promote sustained improvements in overall health literacy

Chronic disease · Community health · Disease · Health education · Health literacy · Health promotion · Literacy · Logistic regression · Data-Driven Disease Surveillance · Global Public Health Policies and Epidemiology · Health Literacy and Information Accessibility

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access