Meyer Marlene, Dadaczynski Kevin, Messer Melanie, Okan Orkan
WHO Collaborating Centre for Health Literacy, TUM Health Literacy Unit, Department of Health and Sport Sciences, TUM School of Medicine and Health,, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
Department Sport and Health Sciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
BMC Public Health. 2025 Aug 21;25(1):2875. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-24196-9.
Health literacy has recently been proposed as a resource to deal with health-related information during the COVID-19 pandemic. Especially the education sector was affected by the consequences of the pandemic, e.g. through school closures and reopenings by following strict hygiene regulations. During challenging times like these, school principals are the key actors in the school environment. They are not only responsible for school functioning, but school principals' behavior and attitudes are also associated with health promoting school activities. The present study aimed to assess COVID-19 health literacy levels of German school principals, and to investigate the associations of COVID-19 health literacy with the implementation of health promotion in schools during the pandemic.
As part of the joined studies coordinated by the COVID-HL Network, the COVID-19 Health Literacy School Principal Survey was conducted in Germany from March to April 2021. 2187 school principals and school management team members from four German federal states participated in the online survey. The HLS-COVID-Q22 was used to assess self-reported COVID-19 health literacy. The COVID-19 related HPS implementation scale was used to measure a holistic approach to school health promotion, consisting of 3 subscales: COVID-19 related support for students, staff and school. COVID-19 health literacy levels were computed using Rasch analysis. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the association of school principals' self-reported COVID-19 health literacy and the implementation of COVID-19 related health promotion in schools.
School principals showed good self-reported COVID-19 health literacy. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that self-reported COVID-19 health literacy positively predicted the implementation of COVID-19 related health promotion in schools for all three subscales during the pandemic. In some regression models, the sociodemographic factors age, sex, and school type were also significant factors.
German school principals had high self-reported COVID-19 health literacy. School principals' self-reported COVID-19 health literacy was a significant factor associated with the implementation of COVID-19 related health promotion in schools. The present findings underline the need to investigate the relationship of school principals' health literacy and other potential influencing factors for the implementation of health promotion in schools.
健康素养最近被提议作为在新冠疫情期间处理与健康相关信息的一种资源。尤其是教育部门受到了疫情后果的影响，例如通过学校关闭以及重新开放时遵循严格的卫生规定。在这样具有挑战性的时期，校长是学校环境中的关键角色。他们不仅负责学校的运转，而且校长的行为和态度也与促进健康的学校活动相关。本研究旨在评估德国校长的新冠健康素养水平，并调查新冠健康素养与疫情期间学校健康促进实施情况之间的关联。
作为由新冠健康素养网络协调的联合研究的一部分，2021年3月至4月在德国进行了新冠健康素养校长调查。来自德国四个联邦州的2187名校长和学校管理团队成员参与了在线调查。使用HLS-COVID-Q22来评估自我报告的新冠健康素养。使用与新冠相关的学校健康促进实施量表来衡量学校健康促进的整体方法，该量表由三个子量表组成：对学生、教职工和学校的新冠相关支持。使用拉施分析计算新冠健康素养水平。进行多元线性回归分析以检验校长自我报告的新冠健康素养与学校中新冠相关健康促进实施情况之间的关联。
校长自我报告的新冠健康素养良好。多元线性回归分析显示，在疫情期间，自我报告的新冠健康素养对所有三个子量表中学校新冠相关健康促进的实施都有正向预测作用。在一些回归模型中，社会人口学因素年龄、性别和学校类型也是显著因素。
德国校长自我报告的新冠健康素养较高。校长自我报告的新冠健康素养是与学校中新冠相关健康促进实施情况相关的一个重要因素。目前的研究结果强调有必要调查校长健康素养与学校健康促进实施的其他潜在影响因素之间的关系。
