gms | German Medical Science

Description: The public is confronted with an overwhelming amount of health information that mostly does not fulfil the quality criteria for evidence-based health information. Claims about health interventions are rapidly disseminated through various media outlets, including social media platforms, which are increasingly used by adolescents for health-related information. Therefore, adolescents need to be equipped with critical health literacy as the health-related behaviours and literacy acquired during adolescence are carried into adulthood. This is essential for enabling them to identify and debunk misinformation and make informed health choices.

The Informed Health Choices (IHC) project was formed to meet this challenge by developing, evaluating and disseminating teaching and learning resources. More recently, secondary school resources for young people in East Africa have been developed and evaluated [1].

The aim of the symposium is to provide insights into various projects that deal with critical health literacy of adolescents. A discussion will contribute to informing future projects and addressing research gaps.

Planned presentation topics:

1.

Julia Röhrig, master student, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany:
As part of the master's thesis, three modules of the IHC secondary school resources were translated and adapted for middle school students in Germany. The three modules were piloted with a special focus on acceptance and feasibility among the target group.

2.

Jana Marlene von Blanckenburg, master student, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany:
As part of the master's thesis, four modules of the IHC secondary school resources were adapted for middle school students in Germany and used in an iterative process. Insights for the future implementation and use of the modules in the school setting were gained from the teachers' perspective and potential challenges and opportunities were identified.

3.

Anna Prokop-Dorner, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland:
In the framework of the research project LIGHT a survey on a representative sample of 12- to 15-year-old pupils of primary schools in Poland was conducted. The findings regarding individual and school-based determinants of critical health literacy will be discussed.

4.

Jana Kaden, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany:
The aim is to improve the critical health literacy of students through school nurses. Therefore, as a first step, an educational intervention to improve critical health literacy of school nurses was developed, based on a needs assessment and literature review.

Competing interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.