Health Literacy among Members of the Nepalese Immigrant Population in Canada

Autor/inn/en	Thapa-Bajgain, Kalpana; Bajgain, Bishnu Bahadur; Dahal, Rudra; Adhikari, Kamala; Chowdhury, Nashit; Chowdhury, Mohammad Z. I.; Turin, Tanvir C.
Titel	Health Literacy among Members of the Nepalese Immigrant Population in Canada
Quelle	In: Health Education Journal, 82 (2023) 3, S.274-285 (12 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Turin, Tanvir C.)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0017-8969
DOI	10.1177/00178969231151631
Schlagwörter	Health Education; Foreign Countries; Immigrants; Public Health; Nepal; Canada + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Gesundheitsaufklärung; Gesundheitsbildung; Gesundheitserziehung; Ausland; Immigrant; Immigrantin; Immigranten; Gesundheitswesen; Kanada
Abstract	Background: Health literacy is an important public health concern and can be defined as 'the degree or extent to which the individuals have the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information and services to make appropriate health decisions'. Research on health literacy among recent immigrants to Canada is not that extensive. Objective: The purpose of this paper was to describe health literacy status among Nepalese immigrants residing in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Methods: In 2019, a cross-sectional study, using a self-administered questionnaire, was conducted among Nepalese immigrants in Calgary. The questionnaire comprised 38 questions including sociodemographic information, self-rated health status, having a chronic disease or not, health literacy, sources of health information and preference to gain health information. Results: We received 401 responses: 49.63% were from women, 51.37% were aged 36-55 years, 37.00% had graduate-level education, 44.96% had immigrated to Canada less than 5 years ago and 81.05% were employed full-time/part-time or self-employed. Findings revealed that 17.21% of survey participants had limited health literacy, followed by 40.15% who had marginal health literacy. The majority of the survey participants (71.82%) either always or often got health information from healthcare professionals, followed by online resources (56.61%). Conclusion: Noteworthy levels of limited health literacy and marginal health literacy were observed among the Nepalese immigrant population. Multidirectional, culturally tailored, community-led, collaborative initiatives are needed to improve health literacy among the immigrant population, to lessen health disparities and to promote better health outcomes. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01