Learn More about Health Literacy in Schools

SHE invites you to participate in two online sessions about health literacy in schools. The sessions take place on

  • November 4th 2020, at 14.00 – 15.00 (CET)
  • November 5th 2020, at 13.00-14.00 (CET)

1. Health Literacy in schools

Time: November 4th 2020, at 14.00 – 15.00 (CET)

This keynote provides an overview of current evidence and knowledge on health literacy in relation to education and schools globally. It links to health literacy with concepts of health promotion such as the Health Promoting School framework and gives imputs for the work.

Presenters: Leena Paakkari and Orkan Okan

Watch the session on video


2. Health literacy in research, practice and policy 

Time: November 5th 2020, at 13.00-14.00 (CET)

Place: Oneline by Zoom. Join: https://ucsyd-dk.zoom.us/j/68997358982?pwd=cVZ5TUhmaGl4ZHhDeFcweFhyQkM1QT09

Content: This keynote will provide insights to research, practice, and policy in the field of health literacy and how it relates to sustainability development. During the presentation findings from specific projects will introduced for example from HBSC and further studies and implications will be drawn for health literacy practice. It will also look on global health literacy networks, their ties to schools, and why policy making is critical to ensure that health literacy is recognized and promoted in society.

Presenters: Leena Paakkari and Orkan Okan


About the presenters

Leena Paakkari is an associate professor and  health education teacher trainer at the Faculty of Sport and Health sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Currently, her main research focus areas are adolescents’ health literacy, health and health behavior, with a particular focus on social media use. Leena is a national leader of Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study in Finland.

Orkan Okan, First Staatsexamen, Dr. phil., is post doc researcher at the Faculty of Educational Science at Bielefeld University, Germany. He was one of the founding members of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Health Literacy Research. Orkan is project manager and researcher in the German national Health Literacy in Childhood and Adolescence research consortium (HLCA, German Federal Ministry of Education and Research) and project lead in the Health Literate Schools project (HeLit-Schools, German Federal Ministry of Health). Together with his research colleagues, Orkan is coordinator of the global COVID-19 Health Literacy Consortium and PI of the German coronavirus-based health literacy study. His current research addresses health literacy in pupils, students, teachers, and schools, health literacy in policies, and health literacy measurement in children and adolescents. Most recently, he has been engaged with health literacy research related to COVID-19 and infodemics. Orkan is co-editor of two health literacy books “International Handbook of Health Literacy” and “New Approaches to Health Literacy”.


More information

Contact Kathelijne Bessems (Maastricht University) or Jesper von Seelen (University College South Denmark)

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