Table 2.
The evolving concept of health literacy: a selection of health literacy definitions in chronological order
| Source and Year [Reference] | Definition |
|---|---|
| Nutbeam (1998) [11] | “The cognitive and social skills which determine the motivation and ability of individuals to gain access to, understand and use information in ways which promote and maintain good health.” |
| American Medical Association (AMA) (1999) [12] | “The constellation of skills, including the ability to perform basic reading and numeral tasks required to function in the healthcare environment.” |
| Nutbeam (2000) [13] | “The personal, cognitive and social skills which determine the ability of individuals to gain access to, understand, and use information to promote and maintain good health.” |
| Institute of Medicine (2004) [14] | “The individuals’ capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.” |
| Zarcadoolas et al. (2005) [15] | “The wide range of skills, and competencies that people develop to seek out, comprehend, evaluate and use health information and concepts to make informed choices, reduce health risks and increase quality of life.” |
| Stocks et al. (2009) [16] | “The ability to understand and interpret the meaning of health information in written, spoken or digital form and how this motivates people to embrace or disregard actions relating to health.” |
| Freedman et al. (2009) [17] | “The degree to which individuals and groups can obtain, process, understand, evaluate, and act upon information needed to make public health decisions that benefit the community.” |
| Healthy People (2010) [18] | “The degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.” |
| Sørensen et al. (2012) [19] | “Health literacy is linked to literacy and entails people’s knowledge, motivation and competencies to access, understand, appraise and apply information to make judgements and take decisions in everyday life concerning healthcare, disease prevention and health promotion to maintain and improve quality of life during the life course.” |
| Dodson et al. (2015) [20] | “The personal characteristics and social resources needed for individuals and communities to access, understand, appraise and use information and services to make decisions about health. Health literacy includes the capacity to communicate, assert and enact these decisions.” |