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The aim of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Portuguese Brazilian version of the instrument for measuring health literacy European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire short form (HLS-EU-Q16). The study sample consisted of 783 Brazilian adults with a mean age of 38.6 years. The data were analyzed through an extensive and robust process of testing the properties with the combination of exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and item response theory (IRT) techniques, aiming to search for strong validation evidence in the internal structure and stability step for other sub-samples. The instrument's reliability was tested using Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's Omega. The analyses indicated the existence of only one dimension and good reliability values. The model tested with cross-validation indicated satisfactory, adequate, consistent and stable levels for EFA, IRT via item discrimination and CFA, both for primary indicators as factor loadings, communalities, item discrimination as well as for the model adequacy indicators. It is concluded that the Brazilian Portuguese version of the HLS-EU-Q16 proved to be a one-dimensional, consistent, accurate and stable model for measuring health literacy in Brazilian adults., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

The human and social implications of poor health literacy are substantial and wide-ranging. Health literacy represents the personal competencies and organizational structures, resources and commitment that enable people to access, understand, appraise and use information and services in ways that promote and maintain good health. A large-scale societal improvement of health literacy will require political buy-in and a systematic approach to the development of health literacy capacity at all levels. This article builds the case for enhancing health literacy system capacity and presents a framework with eight action areas to accommodate the structural transformation needed at micro, meso and macro levels, including a health literate workforce, health literate organization, health literacy data governance, people-centred services and environments based on user engagement, health literacy leadership, health literacy investments and financial resources, health literacy-informed technology and innovation, and partnerships and inter-sectoral collaboration. Investment in the health literacy system capacity ensures an imperative and systemic effort and transformation which can be multiplied and sustained over time and is resilient towards external trends and events, rather than relying on organizational and individual behavioural change alone. Nevertheless, challenges still remain, e.g. to specify the economic benefits more in detail, develop and integrate data governance systems and go beyond healthcare to engage in health literacy system capacity within a wider societal context., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press.)