Health literacy and eHealth literacy; structure, association and group differences

Health literacy is both apersonal asset and a riskfactor (Nutbeam, 2008).It is defined by theWorld Health Organiza-tion (WHO, 1998) as "thecognitive and socialskills which determine the motivation and abilityof individuals to gain access to, understand anduse information in ways which promote andmaintain good health" (WHO, 1998). Nutbeam(2000) further elaborated and suggested theconstruct included functional (i.e., basic reading,writing, numeracy skills), interactive and criticalskills. Health literacy was found to be a majorpredictor of adverse health outcomes (e.g., Bakeret al., 2007; Dewalt et al. 2007; Schillinger et al.2002; Yin et al. 2007), with outcomes rangingfrom difficulty following medication instructions,to applying for benefits and to all-causemortality.