NOVA National School of Public Health, Public Health Research Centre, Comprehensive Health Research Center (CHRC), NOVA University Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.
Health Sciences Research Unit: Nursing (UICISA: E), Nursing School of Coimbra (ESEnfC), Coimbra, Portugal.
Front Public Health. 2024 Jul 3;12:1415588. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1415588. eCollection 2024.
Health literacy among migrants is a matter of public health and social justice. Migrants from diverse backgrounds encounter challenges such as linguistic barriers, cultural disparities, restricted access to health services, and heterogeneous migration statuses. Addressing these challenges requires careful consideration of their unique experiences and needs to promote equitable health outcomes. This can hinder their ability to navigate the healthcare system, understand health information, and engage in health-promoting behaviours. However, there is still a significant gap in our understanding of health literacy within migrant communities. This study has a dual aim: to identify health literacy strengths and needs among migrants from Portuguese-speaking African Countries (PALOP) countries in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area and to examine associations between demographic, socioeconomic, migration and health condition characteristics and the health literacy domains.
A cross-sectional survey was conducted. Data were collected from 506 PALOP migrants using the Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ). We also collected demographic, socioeconomic, migration, and health condition data. We employed multiple linear regression to understand the relationship between the HLQ nine domains and these characteristics.
The HLQ scores revealed distinct patterns of health literacy between the groups. Health literacy needs were particularly evident in the domains related to feeling understood and supported by healthcare providers and navigating the healthcare system. Conversely, higher scores and potential strengths were observed in actively managing one's health and understanding enough health information to make informed decisions. However, in these, the average scores suggest that a high proportion of people recognised difficulties. 'The results also indicated that a higher educational level was associated with increased health literacy. In contrast, low self-perceived health status, living alone, shorter duration of residence in Portugal, and being either undocumented or in the process of obtaining legal status were associated with lower health literacy.
Our study highlights the importance of migration-related variables and self-reported health status in understanding health literacy among migrant communities. Factors such as length of stay and low self-perceived health status are associated with potentially disadvantageous levels of health literacy, which could exacerbate health inequalities. Assessing these variables is critical to identify gaps in health literacy and develop tailored interventions to reduce health inequalities.
移民的健康素养是公共卫生和社会正义的问题。来自不同背景的移民面临着语言障碍、文化差异、获取医疗服务受限以及移民身份多样化等挑战。解决这些挑战需要仔细考虑他们独特的经历和需求，以促进公平的健康结果。这可能会阻碍他们在医疗保健系统中导航、理解健康信息和参与促进健康行为的能力。然而，我们对移民社区中的健康素养仍然存在很大的理解差距。本研究有两个目的：一是确定里斯本大都市区来自葡语非洲国家（PALOP）的移民的健康素养优势和需求，二是研究人口统计学、社会经济、移民和健康状况特征与健康素养领域之间的关联。
进行了一项横断面调查。使用健康素养问卷（HLQ）从 506 名 PALOP 移民中收集数据。我们还收集了人口统计学、社会经济、移民和健康状况数据。我们采用多元线性回归来了解 HLQ 九个领域与这些特征之间的关系。
HLQ 得分揭示了不同群体之间健康素养的明显模式。在与医疗保健提供者的理解和支持以及医疗保健系统导航相关的领域，健康素养需求特别明显。相反，在积极管理自己的健康和理解足以做出明智决策的健康信息方面，得分较高且具有潜在优势。然而，在这些领域，平均得分表明很大一部分人都承认存在困难。“结果还表明，较高的教育水平与健康素养的提高有关。相反，较低的自我感知健康状况、独居、在葡萄牙居住的时间较短以及无证件或正在申请合法身份与较低的健康素养相关。
我们的研究强调了移民相关变量和自我报告的健康状况在理解移民社区健康素养方面的重要性。停留时间和自我感知健康状况较低等因素与潜在不利的健康素养水平相关，这可能会加剧健康不平等。评估这些变量对于确定健康素养差距和制定有针对性的干预措施以减少健康不平等至关重要。
