Abstract
Low health literacy has emerged as an important area of research because of its close link with health disparities. In this study, we used a qualitative approach to investigate healthcare providers' perspectives on the health literacy of immigrant and refugee parents and its association with children's health. Sixteen health and mental health professionals serving immigrant and refugee parents and children in various clinical settings were recruited through a purposive sampling method and interviewed. Six broad themes were identified: (1) multi-dimensional components of parental health literacy; (2) parent characteristics and native country experiences; (3) host systems and their interactions impact on parental health literacy; (4) diverse aspects of help-seeking; (5) culture-based parental help-seeking; and (6) child health outcomes. Within these larger themes, the complexity of parental health literacy and its various effects on children's health outcomes among immigrant and refugee parents were evident. Future research includes more population-based quantitative studies of parental health literacy and culturally relevant clinical approaches among immigrant and refugee parents.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 220-229 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Children and Youth Services Review |
Volume | 67 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 1 2016 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2016
Keywords
- Asian Americans
- Children health
- Health literacy
- Health outcomes
- Healthcare disparities
- Immigrants
- Parental health literacy
- Refugees