[Health-literate schools: concept development for organizational health literacy in schools].

BACKGROUND

Health literacy is considered a crucial resource nowadays. Schools are important venues for youth that can significantly contribute to promoting health literacy. This can be done in the traditional behavior-focused approach by providing learning opportunities and through an environment-orientated approach by optimizing the school to be a health-literate organization. This perspective is based on the concept of organizational health literacy, which is used in different settings to change organizational conditions to strengthen the health literacy of the respective clientele. The project "HeLit-Schools" (Health-Literate Schools) follows this approach and transfers it to the school setting.

OBJECTIVES

In the HeLit-Schools project, a concept should be developed that provides standards for the development of organizational health literacy in schools and identifies which aspects need to be addressed.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The concept development was based on existing concepts of organizational health literacy. The concept was developed by involving key school stakeholders in commenting and revision loops.

RESULTS

The HeLit-Schools concept includes eight standards that depict different areas within the school organization for optimizing and thus sustainably strengthening health literacy.

CONCLUSIONS

Promoting health literacy in and through schools requires a comprehensive environment-oriented approach. The organization development concept HeLit-Schools enables schools to become health-literate using setting-based development.