Determinants of primary school teachers’ health literacy in Morogoro Municipality, Tanzania: a reflection on access to health information
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Date
2023
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
WILEY Online Library, HINDAWI
Abstract
Background. Teachers have the potential of promoting health knowledge and consequently health-literacy (HL) enhancement.
Cognizant of this, interventions geared toward influencing and strengthening school teachers’ HL have remained important.
However, for such interventions to be effective, understanding what determines teachers’ HL is inevitable. Purpose. This article
analyses the determinants of primary school teachers’ HL by analyzing what prompts their health information-seeking patterns.
Methods. A cross-sectional research involving 189 randomly sampled primary school teachers was conducted in 2021 in Morogoro
Municipality whereby data were collected through a structured questionnaire survey and analyzed using IBM-SPSS. A score index
gauged HL while frequencies and percentages measured other variables. Results. All teachers had high HL with a mean HL
(standard deviation) of 8.10062. Only 43.4% searched for HI, 20.1% of those who searched for HI were influenced by healthrelated
problems encountered, 12.2% searched for HI to broaden their knowledge on health-related issues, and 7.4% were
prompted by health risks around. Also, 3.7% of the teachers acceded that health-seeking information is influenced by an interest
in searching HI for self-health management. About 36.0%, 32.3%, and 31.7% of the teachers agree that the provision of health
education, interest to read issues related to HL, and addressing issues related to HL influence teachers’ HL. Conclusion. Teachers
have been searching for HI due to different concerns, though there is a need to further enhance such efforts. Recommendation. The
government, communities, and development partners should enhance HI seeking to promote teachers’ HL for a healthier society.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
Primary school teachers, Health literacy determinant, Morogoro Municipality, Tanzania, Health information
Citation
https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/1799988