Measuring health literacy in Europe in the view of the European Health Literacy Survey (HLS-EU)

From a public health perspective, health literacy (HL) refers to the capacities of people to meet the complex demands of health in modern society. On the basis of an integrative conceptual model, a questionnaire has been developed to measure HL in eight countries in Europe. The questionnaire distinguishes itself from existing measurement tools in its ability to address a broader concept of HL and allows for a standardized comparison of levels of HL between and within populations in Europe. The validation of the measurement tool, taking place in spring 2010, follows a sequential exploratory mixed method design by means of focus groups and a pilot study. The validation will take place in a multicultural context, and prioritizes social research and public health applications. The results of both the focus groups and the pilot study will be presented. Subsequent to the validation, survey data is collected through face-to-face interviews with n = 1000 people in each of the participating countries Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, Poland and Spain. Data analysis takes place in autumn 2010 and results of the European Health Literacy Survey will be addressed. The empirical findings and comparative analysis help verifying and substantiating the concept of HL while taking national and cultural specificities into account.