Health literacy? Adapting and applying the concept of health literacy in Brazil

Abstract

This article sought to describe the process of adaptation and application of the concept of health literacy in Brazil, through content analysis of the Brazilian academic literature, structured in four stages: organizational analysis; coding of the results from the use of three forms of health literacy expressions in Portuguese (alfabetização, letramento and literacia em saúde); categorization of results according to the concept and scope; and inferences from the application of each translated concept in different situations. A total of 1,441 documents were identified. From 2005 to 2016, the use of alfabetização em saúde prevailed, strongly associated with the functional dimension of health literacy. As of 2017, the concept of letramento em saúde became more evident, even though, in practical terms, there is little difference from the previous interpretation, focused on information for self-care and disease prevention. More recently, there is a growing record of the literacia em saúde concept, a translation widely used in Portugal, which is presented as a more adequate and comprehensive concept, capable of expressing the multidimensional character of the advanced health literacy models, which seek to express the individual and collective decision-making processes on health and quality of life.

Key words:
Health literacy; Health education; Health promotion; Literacy