Health Examination Survey 2018-2019 – Progetto Cuore: Health Literacy

As part of the Health Examination Survey (HES) 2018-2019 - Progetto Cuore, conducted by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) on the Italian adult general population, a supplementary survey on health literacy is included.

Data are collected through the use of a standardised questionnaire including specific questions on health literacy, a question form to collect further information on related health conditions, and a questionnaire on health literacy and COVID-19, which measures the ability to acquire information and make choices for own health in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Health Literacy includes people's knowledge, motivation and skills to access, understand, evaluate and apply health information in order to make judgments and decisions in terms of health care, disease prevention and health promotion to improve health status and quality of life.

In several countries surveys have been conducted to assess health literacy in order to identify vulnerable population groups, reduce barriers and encourage participation in activities that improve health status, practice in health organizations, health governance, health policies and health systems in order to make health services usable in a simpler and more rational way by the assisted person and therefore make the health system more effective and efficient.

The World Health Organization in 2018 launched a project for the assessment of the level of health literacy in the populations of European countries (Action Network on Measuring Population and Organizational Health Literacy, M-POHL), to which the Istituto Superiore di Sanità-ISS participates as the Italian representative.

Health Examination Survey 2018-2019 Progetto Cuore, the supplementary survey

The questionnaire is a tool also designed to assess the degree of perceived difficulty with respect to health-related actions, such as:

• understanding what the doctor is saying;
• assessing whether information on diseases reported by the mass-media is reliable;
• finding information on how to manage mental health problems such as stress or depression;
• participating to activities that improve health and well-being in the community.

This survey will be part of the baseline for monitoring and documenting health literacy in Italy.

Data collection will be carried out through telephone or web interviews by a national agency specialized in opinion polls on behalf and under the supervision of the ISS.

The ISS coordinates the organization of the survey, training, standardization, data collection, quality control, and carries out data analyses and dissemination of scientific results.