Does Health Literacy have a different meaning depending on the Culture?

Can health be understood differently in different cultures?

Many studies (Murray & al., 2018; Glouberman & Millar, 2003) have already investigated the level and distribution of health in Canada. There are also studies assessing health literacy and its possible improvement among Aboriginal people (Smylie, Williams & Cooper, 2006). However, there are few (if any) studies that address the definition of health competencies across cultures. The aim of this project will be to explore in detail what it means for members of different cultures to have “health competencies”, and how they value their importance to achieve and maintain health in different fields of health care. To that effect, Canadian citizens and representatives of different cultural backgrounds will be interviewed (N= approx 30) using a semi-structured interview approach focusing on the meaning of health and health competencies as experienced by the participants, to understand if and how culture impacts the perception of health literacy. The results of the study will allow to evaluate to what extent the concept of health literacy is robust across cultures and if measuring and comparing the level of health literacy across cultures is meaningful.

Faculty Supervisor:

Fernando Alvarez

Student:

Partner:

Université Catholique de Louvain

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Education

University:

Université de Montréal

Program: