Abstract
Health literacy is the cognitive and social ability of an individual to access, understand, analysis and use information for promoting and maintaining health. Individuals with a lower educational level and family income would usually have a lower health literacy and poorer access to health information yet with more chronic illnesses. Inadequate health literacy could result in suboptimal self-management skills for health problems, leading to wider health inequality and poorer health outcome in the socially disadvantaged population. In the era of digitalisation, health resources often exist in electronic forms, such as digital applications (apps) and webpages. The recent COVID-19 pandemic also drove the accelerated development of various public health measures in digital form, including the use of apps for surveillance, contact tracing, exposure notifications and provision of health advice. Thus, digital health literacy, also known as electronic health (eHealth) literacy, is an important consideration when devising public health interventions. In this chapter, ways to assess of health literacy, digital health literacy and their implications will be discussed. Various strategies to bridge the health literacy gaps and the digital divide, particularly in the low-educated and low-income population, and their ethical considerations will also be explored.
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Dao, T.M.C., Fu, B.S.N. (2023). Health Literacy in Digital World. In: Fong, B.Y.F., Wong, W.C.W. (eds) Gaps and Actions in Health Improvement from Hong Kong and Beyond. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4491-0_8
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