JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Experts agree that the promotion of (digital) health literacy should be an integral part of the school curriculum. However, promoting (digital) health literacy within the German school system is difficult because (digital) health education is no mandatory school subject in all German states. Therefore, experts suggest that (digital) health literacy could be addressed as part of the mandatory framework for digital education and digital literacy in schools developed by the German Conference on Education Ministries and Cultural Affairs (Kultusministerkonferenz).

Objective:

The goal of the present study was to evaluate a newly developed e-learning course that was designed to improve (digital) health literacy in school-aged children and at the same time to teach skills specified in the mandatory framework for digital education and digital literacy in schools. It was hypothesized that participants’ health literacy and digital health literacy levels would be higher after completing the e-learning course than they were before completing the course. Furthermore, it was hypothesized that after completing the e-learning course participants’ subjective and objective knowledge in the domain of (digital) health literacy would be higher than it was before completing the course.

Methods:

Before data collection, the study protocol was submitted to the ethics committee of the [ANONYMIZED] Medical Association. The ethics committee had no ethical or professional objections to the study protocol. The pre-post-measurement study was conducted online using an online platform for data collection. After participants (N=323) gave their informed consent to participate in the study, they provided demographic information and answered all measures (pre-measurement). Following this, participants had seven days to complete the e-learning course. After finishing the e-learning course, participants answered all measures again (post-measurement).

Results:

To test the hypotheses, Bayesian paired samples t-tests were conducted. The results support all hypotheses. After completing the e-learning course, participants reached higher health literacy levels. More specifically, they reached higher competency levels in the domains of theoretical knowledge (BF10=676000; δ=-0.316), practical knowledge (BF10=92300; δ=-0.294), critical thinking (BF10=7.42e+13; δ=-0.482), self-awareness (BF10=11500000; δ=-0.345), and citizenship (BF10=266000; δ=-0.306). Furthermore, participants reached higher digital health literacy levels. More specifically, they reached higher competency levels in the domains of information searching (BF10=2.339; δ=-0.135), evaluating reliability (BF10=2.03e+11; δ=-0.434), and determining relevance (BF10=316000; δ=-0.308). Moreover, participants demonstrated higher subjective (BF10=3.58e+82) and objective knowledge (BF10=3.82e+97; δ=-1.758) in the domain of (digital) health literacy.

Conclusions:

The newly designed e-learning course provides an easy way for schools and teachers from all German states to integrate (digital) health literacy education into their school curriculums and lessons. The evaluated course is especially attractive because it was designed to improve (digital) health literacy and at the same time to teach skills specified in the mandatory framework for digital education and digital literacy in schools developed by the German Conference on Education Ministries and Cultural Affairs (Kultusministerkonferenz).