New Publication in Health Literacy and Communication Open

Health literacy refers to how well people can find, understand, and use health information to manage their health. For people living with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease (COPD), lower health literacy can make managing their condition more challenging.

In our survey of 192 COPD patients, those with lower health literacy were older, reported a lower quality of life, and felt less confident about taking their medication. They also reported more challenges in managing their health condition and expressed a greater need for support.

Compared with patients with sufficient health literacy, those with lower health literacy were:

~6.3 times more likely to report a lack of understanding from their family or friends;

~5.6 times more likely to struggle with a high volume of medical appointments and their management; and

~3.5 times more likely to experience fears about the future because of their illness.

Patients with lower health literacy also expressed significantly greater support needs across administrative, lifestyle, and clinical domains. Compared with patients with sufficient health literacy, they were:

~4.8 times more likely to need support with paying insurance invoices;

~3.9 times more likely to wish for support with smoking cessation;

~3.8 times more likely to want help with cooking and maintaining a healthy diet;

~2.7 times more likely to need regular tips and information on managing COPD; and

~2.1 times more likely to need help with comparing their health status with that of other COPD patients and with regular physical exercise to relieve COPD symptoms.

These findings highlight the importance of considering health literacy when supporting patients with COPD. Healthcare providers should aim to provide accessible health information while tailoring additional support to patients' individual needs. A combination of universally accessible information and targeted, personalized support may help address the different challenges faced by people with lower health literacy.

Publication:

Title: What do COPD patients with low health literacy need to enhance their self-management? - Evidence from Swiss survey data 

Published in: Health Literacy and Communication Open

Full text: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/28355245.2026.2718582#abstract