Investigating the Knowledge and Practice of Health Care Providers on Health Literacy and Applying Related Strategies in Relation to Referrals to Comprehensive Health Care Centers in Bushehr City, Iran

Background: Lack of attention to health literacy by health professionals in relation to clients affects the quality and success of health services. The present study aimed to investigate the knowledge and practice of health care providers in Bushehr City, Iran, regarding health literacy and applying its related strategies in the process of communication with patients. Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive-analytic study done on 91 health care careers in Bushehr. The samples were entered using a census method, and a researcher-made questionnaire was used to assess the level of knowledge and practice of healthcare providers about health literacy and applying related strategies in communication and education to clients. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics via SPSS software. Findings: The level of knowledge of health care providers was weak about health literacy and its related strategies, and the status of performance and application of health literacy strategies in the process of communication and education to the clients was generally moderate. Health care providers with lower age (P = 0.022), less work experience (P = 0.009), contracted employment status (P = 0.008), and higher education level (P = 0.026) had better knowledge about the health literacy. Health care providers with higher levels of knowledge about health literacy strategies also had better performance in using these strategies in practice (P = 0.017). Conclusion: Health care providers' knowledge about health literacy is weak, and there is moderate performance in applying health literacy strategies in the process of communication and education to the clients. Since health care providers who have a better understanding of health literacy strategies, use health literacy strategies more than others do; therefore, training courses is necessary to empower health care providers with the concept of health literacy and its effective role in patient education