1 Research Article Cognition and Health Literacy in Older Adults’ Recall of Self-Care Information

Purpose of the Study: Health literacy is associated with health outcomes presumably because it influences the understanding of information needed for self-care. However, lit-tle is known about the language comprehension mechanisms that underpin health literacy. Design and Methods: We explored the relationship between a commonly used measure of health literacy (Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults [STOFHLA]) and com-prehension of health information among 145 older adults. Results: Results showed that performance on the STOFHLA was associated with recall of health information. Consistent with the Process-Knowledge Model of Health Literacy, mediation analysis showed that both processing capacity and knowledge mediated the association between health literacy and recall of health information. In addition, knowl-edge moderated the effects of processing capacity limits, such that processing capacity was less likely to be associated with recall for older adults with higher levels of knowledge. Implications: These findings suggest that knowledge contributes to health literacy an