Department of Society, Human Development and Health Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
J Health Psychol. 2013 Aug;18(8):1004-10. doi: 10.1177/1359105312470128. Epub 2013 Jan 24.
Insights for action in the relatively new field of health literacy have been constrained by the emphasis on the literacy skills of the individuals. Early studies into the relationship between literacy and health outcomes were not appropriately balanced with examinations of individuals' skills and health system demands. Most studies focused on the measures of patients' reading skills without due attention to the health tasks undertaken, the health materials used, or the skills of providers with whom patients were interacting. Furthermore, public health is founded on the epidemiologic notion of the reciprocal relationship between individuals and environments. Early studies in health literacy did not attend to context-the physical and social environment of health-care settings. New initiatives in health literacy must bring attention to the demands and expectations of health systems and to the proficiencies of the various health professionals who prepare documents and information for the public and who interact with communities and patients.
健康素养这一相对较新的领域的行动洞察力受到个体读写能力的重视所限制。早期关于读写能力与健康结果之间关系的研究并没有适当平衡对个人技能和卫生系统需求的研究。大多数研究都集中在衡量患者的阅读技能上，而没有适当关注患者所承担的健康任务、所使用的健康材料或与患者互动的提供者的技能。此外，公共卫生是以个人与环境之间相互关系的流行病学概念为基础的。健康素养的早期研究没有关注到卫生保健环境的物理和社会环境。健康素养的新举措必须关注卫生系统的需求和期望，以及为公众编写文件和信息并与社区和患者互动的各种卫生专业人员的能力。
