Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Health Promotion in Pediatric Primary Care

2013; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 52; Issue: 12 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1177/0009922813506607

1938-2707

Deborah Winders Davis, V. Faye Jones, M. Cynthia Logsdon, Lesa Ryan, Mandie Wilkerson-McMahon,

Breastfeeding Practices and Influences

Health literacy has been shown to predict health behaviors and outcomes above the effects of education or socioeconomic status. Much remains unknown about the health literacy of parents and the role it plays in children’s health outcomes or in health disparities. The current study explored the health communication needs and health literacy indicators in a diverse sample of parents (n = 75) to identify potential areas for future interventions. The sample consisted of parents of children 18 to 36 months old who were visiting 3 different pediatric medical offices, 2 of which served low-income families and 1 located in an affluent suburb. When comparisons were made between 2 educational attainment groups, there were variations in indicators of health literacy and health communication needs. These data can be used to guide the development of interventions by primary care providers to improve parent education.