earticle

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Objectives: Health literacy has become an important issue in the filed of public health. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently established a strong global mandate for public policy action on health literacy by positioning it as one of three key pillars for achieving sustainable development and health equity in the Shanghai Declaration on Health Promotion. A number of countries implemented national health literacy policies, with many others expected to develop them in the immediate future. However, national policies and strategies for health literacy in Korea is still limited and underdeveloped. The aim of this study was to suggest policy directions to improve health literacy in Korean through reviewing international health literacy polices and strategies at the national level. Methods: In terms of the literature in U.S, Canada, Australia, and European countries, government policy reports and research papers were reviewed. For systematic comparison, the criteria for analyzing and extracting data from policy documents suggested by previous study was employed. Results: Based on the literature review, document review on international efforts to improve health literacy, and survey results, we suggest the following policy recommendations: (1) developing an official term of health literacy in the Korean language to help stakeholders and the public better understand the comprehensive, multi-dimensional concept, (2) monitoring of the health literacy level among Koreans, and (3) coordinating with government, healthcare sector, academia, etc. to develop intersectoral strategies aiming at improving health literacy as well as achieving health equity. Conclusions: For the development of effective health literacy policies and strategies at the national level, health literacy needs to be understood as a key determinant of health, and inter-sectoral efforts should be considered to improve health literacy.