Public health nursing: Challenges and innovations for health literacy in rural area

Abstract

AbstractHealth literacy is a critical component of public health nursing, particularly in rural areas where access to health services is severely limited. As it relates to quality of care, cost of care, safety of care, and appropriate decision‐making in general public health, health literacy can also be seen as an important public policy issue. Several challenges that can be found in rural communities in terms of access to health literacy, such as limited access to healthcare services, limited resources, low literacy rate, cultural and language barriers, financial constraints, and digital divide. Based on these challenges, several innovations can be pursued such as community‐based health education, health literacy training among healthcare professionals, digital health technology, partnerships with community‐based organizations, health literacy radio programs, and community health ambassadors. This reflection highlights the challenges and innovations that nurses can do to overcome the problem of low‐health literacy in rural communities. In the future, the development of community empowerment and technology will be needed to refine the progress made so that a gradual increase in health literacy in rural communities can be seen.