Browsing by Author "Malungo, J.R.S"

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    Health literacy and its correlates in the context of one health approach in Tanzania
    (Co-operative and Business Studies, 2018) Muhanga, M; Malungo, J.R.S
    Health literacy is an important predictor of health outcomes, health care costs and utilization, yet most countries, Tanzania inclusive, lack health literacy measurements in their health datasets. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Morogoro urban and Mvomero districts in Morogoro, Tanzania to assess health literacy and its correlates in the interface of humans, animals and the environment. The sample comprised of 240 respondents was obtained through a multistage sampling procedure. A structured questionnaire administered through a Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) electronic platform was used to collect data. Health literacy was measured using a context specific One Health Literacy Assessment Tool (OHLT) developed to capture health related aspects reflecting the interactions of humans, animals and the environment. The study used IBM-SPSS (v20) and Gretl software to analyse quantitative data. The results revealed that 36.3% of the respondents had Inadequate Health Literacy, followed with Marginal Health Literacy at 30.8% and Adequate Health Literacy standing at 32.9%. Pearson coefficient correlation revealed health literacy correlating to group of attitudes (r=0.135, p<0.01), levels of engagement in health-related discussion (r=0.609, p<0.05), health behaviours categories (r=-0.648, p<0.05) and category of information seeking (r=0.753, p<0.05). Efforts should be made by the government and non-governmental organizations to promote health literacy in the context of One Health Approach through mass awareness given its importance towards realization of optimal health for humans, animals and the environment.
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    The what, why and how of health literacy: a systematic review of literature
    (International Journal of Health, 2017) Muhanga, M.I; Malungo, J.R.S
    This paper reviews literature on the concept of health literacy. Specifically the paper reviews theoretical aspects on the concept (The What); the rationale behind health literacy and how important health literacy is towards attaining good health (The Why) plus tools and approaches towards measuring and assessing Health Literacy (The How). A documentary research method was used in collecting rele-vant information from sixty publications. Articles reviewed were from peer-reviewed journals, conference papers, health professional studies, research by recognized independent institutions as well as systematic and narrative reviews on the topic. The review concentrat-ed on literature published from 1970 to 2015 as the concept was developed around 1970s, excluding publications made before 1970s and non-English language publications. It is evident that the concept of Health Literacy has evolved from a basic description of the ability to perform health related tasks that require reading and computational skills, to cover cognitive capacities related to obtaining, processing, and understanding health information, leading up to decision making. There is a great need to have this particular concept and/ or process promoted taking into consideration the purposes, importance and rationale towards health care.