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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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A life course approach to health literacy
— the role of gender, educational attainment and lifetime cognitive capability | | Author(s) | Sean A P Clouston, Jennifer A Manganello, Marcus Richards |
| Journal title | Age and Ageing, vol 46, no 3, May 2017 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press, May 2017 |
| Pages | pp 493-499 |
| Source | https://academic.oup.com/ageing |
| Keywords | Health [elderly] ; Preventative medicine ; Cognitive processes ; Attitude ; Life span ; Educational status [elderly] ; Social inclusion. |
| Annotation | Social inequalities in health are believed to arise in part because individuals make use of social and economic resources in order to improve survival. In recent years health literacy has received increased attention as a factor that can help explain differences in health outcomes. However examination of life course predictors of health literacy has been limited. In this study life course data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study 1957-2011 were used to examine predictors of health literacy in old age using the Newest Vital Sign. Generalised structural equation modelling was used to model pathways to health literacy. Predictors of health literacy included educational attainment, adolescent cognitive and non-cognitive skills, and, in men, rate of cognitive decline from middle to later life. Numerous studies have documented health literacy issues among older adults, and recommendations have been made for ways to improve health literacy for this population. This study reports on risk factors across the life course that are associated with health literacy in later life, identifying possible intervention targets to reduce risk of poor health as people age. These findings suggest that a range of life course factors, beginning in early life, predict health literacy. Further research studying health literacy over the life course is warranted. (JL). |
| Accession Number | CPA-170519204 A |
| Classmark | CC: LK2: DA: DP: BG6: F:V: RNA |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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