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Background Health care facilities (i.e., hospitals, care facilities and integration assistance) play an important role in providing health-related information and strengthening health literacy (HL) of patients/clients, staff and at the organizational level. The project “Development of Health Literacy in Health Care Facilities (EwiKo)’ aims at implementing tools to promote and strengthen organizational health literacy (OHL) in health care institutions in Germany. Objectives are 1) to assess needs for strengthening OHL in pilot facilities and 2) to examine factors that are beneficial to strengthen OHL in health care facilities. Methods N = 6 pilot institutions (n = 2 hospitals, n = 2 care homes for elderly people, n = 2 facilities for people with disabilities) and their members of the “working groups on HL” filled in a self-assessment tool to assess the level of OHL, accompanied by focus group interviews (n = 6-9 persons per pilot facility). Regarding conducive and obstructive factors when implementing tools to strengthen OHL, focus group interviews (n = 6-9 persons per pilot facility) and semi-structured interviews (n = 1 coordinator per organization) were conducted. Results Results of the self-assessment tool showed a need to strengthen OHL in all types of health care facilities, particularly in the fields of action ‘training of employees in HL tools’, “communication” and ‘participatory development and testing of documents, materials and services on HL’. Results of the focus group interviews showed a special need to strengthen OHL in the area ‘HL of employees’. Beneficial factors by implementing tools to strengthen OHL are, for instance a supporting management, resources, a participatory approach and trainings by the project team. Conclusions Due to the ongoing corona pandemic and accompanying challenges (e.g., personnel resources), it is comprehensible that health care facilities emphasize a need for strengthening HL of employees.

Background Digital communication technologies had a crucial role during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the internet and Social Media as highly frequented sources for retrieving health information. University student's health and well-being were highly affected and most interaction with peers and professionals migrated to the digital realm, which made digital health literacy (DHL) a key competence to navigate digital health environments. The main goal of the study was to explore DHL of students in Germany. Methods A cross-sectional online survey among students (N = 14916) from 130 universities in Germany was implemented as part of the global Covid-HL Network, collecting data on DHL, physical and mental health, SoC and sociodemographics. Data was analyzed using univariate, bivariate and regression analyses. Results Assessing the reliability of information (5964/14,103, 42.3%) and determining commercial interest of information posed the most difficult tasks (5489/14,097, 38.9%). Difficulties were revealed for finding information (4282/14,098, 30.4%). Female students reported lower DHL and social media use was associated with lower judgment skills. 38% of all students reported low and very low well-being and 29% reported at least two health complaints weekly, while health outcomes follow a social gradient (lower SES and gender). Regression analysis showed significant association between SoC and well-being (OR: 1.2-2.03) and health complaints (OR: 1.58-1.71). Higher future worries were with low well-being (OR: 2.83) and multiple health complaints (OR: 2.84). Conclusions There is an urgent need to enhance DHL and SoC of students and implement health promotion strategies, using target group specific intervention. Gender and socioeconomic differences must be taken into account and interventions could be delivered within the university. Measures should also address student mental health.

Background Due to the high availability and use of digital media, health-related information is increasingly shifting into the digital space. While there are increasing empirical findings on general health literacy (HL), there is a lack of evidence on digital HL in adolescence and its association with health behavior. Methods A cross-sectional study of 490 secondary school students (grades eight and nine) from the federal state of Hesse was conducted from October 2019 to February 2020. Digital HL was assessed using five subscales of the Digital Health Literacy Instrument (DHLI), while consumption of fruits, vegetables, soft drinks, and weekly physical activity were used as indicators of health behavior. In addition to gender and grade level, subjective social status (SSS) was used as a social characteristic. Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses were performed, with binary-logistic regression adjusted for gender and SSS. Results Across all items, the percentage of adolescents reporting difficulties in acquiring and dealing with digital health information ranges from 15.3 % to 37.5 %. Stratified by social characteristics, gender and socioeconomic differences were found with girls and respondents reporting a lower SSS more often showing a limited digital HL. Adolescents with moderate and low digital HL report higher levels of low physical activity, non-daily fruit and daily soft drink consumption. Depending on the health behavior, different relationship patterns can be observed for the dimensions of digital HL. Conclusions The findings suggest a need for interventions to promote digital HL among adolescents, particularly for those of low SSS. In this context, the differential relationship patterns with health behaviors provide an avenue for the development of specific interventions.

Introduction Health care organizations (HCO) are increasingly required to provide health literate structures and processes to strengthen organizational health literacy (OHL). So far, little is known about the extent of OHL in HCO in Germany. Aims are therefore 1) to examine the level of OHL in health care organizations, and 2) to investigate the impact of organizations level of health prevention and workplace health promotion on the level of OHL. Methods Analyses are based on a nationwide cross-sectional study (online survey) among management staff (N = 564) in HCO (hospitals, nursing homes, facilities for disabled people). OHL was measured by the German version of the ‘Health literate health care organization 10 item questionnaire’ (HLHO-10). Health prevention and workplace health promotion were operationalized by the “Worksite Health Promotion Capacity Instrument’ (WHPCI). Uni- and bivariate analyses were carried out, on an item-basis and as an index (median-split). Results Regarding OHL, 55.1 % of the health care organizations reported below-average levels of OHL. On an item-basis, the highest below-average levels were given for the standard ‘communication’ (59.1 %) and the ‘provision of information to patients/residents via various media’ (57.4 %). Regarding the level of health prevention (51.8 %) and the existence of workplace health promotion structures (55.7 %), more than half of HCO reported a below-average level. In addition, results showed that HCO that indicate a below-average level of prevention and few structures of workplace health promotion also revealed a below-average level of OHL. Conclusions There is need to strengthen OHL in German HCO. Key messages • HCO are required to strengthen HLO, particular in communication and participatory approaches. • A higher level of prevention and workplace health promotion on HCO can contribute to the implementation of OHL initiatives.

Hintergrund und Stand (inter)nationaler Forschung: Einrichtungen der Gesundheitsversorgung (d.h. Krankenhäuser, Einrichtungen der Pflege und der Eingliederungshilfe) nehmen bei der Vermittlung von gesundheitsbezogenen Informationen und Stärkung der Gesundheitskompetenz eine zentrale Rolle [zum vollständigen Text gelangen Sie über die oben angegebene URL]