New WHO report on health literacy in schools
Heath literacy, the ability of individuals to understand, critically appraise and use information related to their health, is an important component of education and has become more prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Approaches to improving health literacy education in schools are lacking in many European countries.
A WHO report makes the case for including health literacy education in schools, classrooms and professional education and training to the benefit of the education and health sectors, and suggests ways this can be achieved. The report: provides a brief overview of evidence on health literacy in children and adolescents; highlights the critical role of the education sector as beneficiary and implementer; places health literacy in schools within the wider WHO health literacy strategy and the whole-school approach; identifies key health literacy learning objectives and indicators; and suggests action opportunities for implementation and evaluation of health literacy in schools.
Orkan Okan and Leena Paakkari from SHE's research group and Jens Aagaard-Hansen, SHE's external evaluator, have made important contributions to make the publication possible.