Perceived Needs of Health Education and Associated Factors among Community-dwelling Residents

Abstract

Background Health education and health promotion are at the top of the list of population health promotion strategies. It is essential to provide community-dwelling residents with health education to improve their health literacy. However, few studies focus on the needs of health education (including the contents, acquisition methods and forms) in community-dwelling residents. Objective To investigate the perceived needs of health education and associated factors in community-dwelling residents, providing a scientific basis for meeting their health education needs and improving their health literacy level. Methods From January 19 to March 12, 2020, 2 846 residents aged >12 years were selected from 10 cities of China using multistage sampling to attend a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire used contains two parts: the first part is socio-demographic characteristics. And the second part is the perceived health education needs of community-dwelling residents, with 5-point Likert scale items belonging to three dimensions (contents, forms, and acquisition methods) . The total score for each dimension was obtained by summing the score of items in the dimension. Residents' needs of the contents, forms or acquisition methods were graded as "low", "moderate", or "high" by the average total score of each dimension. Univariate and multivariate ordinal Logistic regression were used to explore the associated factors of level of health education needs in community-dwelling residents. Results Altogether, 2 679 cases (94.13%) who handed in responsive questionnaires were finally included. The average total score for dimensions of contents, acquisition methods and forms were (21.49±5.91) , (15.11±5.48) and (13.61±4.41) , respectively. Among the content items of health education, the top three relatively strongly needed/strongly needed were food safety〔2 081 (77.68%) 〕, disease prevention and control〔2 020 (75.44%) 〕, and rational medication〔1 963 (73.28%) 〕. Among the acquisition methods of health education, the top two relatively strongly needed/strongly needed were health education columns in the community built using digital media technologies〔1 519 (56.70%) 〕 and interactive health education〔1 518 (56.66%) 〕. In terms of the health education form, the proportions of residents who needed various forms of health education were similar. Specifically, the proportion of residents who relatively strongly needed/strongly needed video-based health education was the highest〔64.91% (1 739/2 679) 〕, while that of residents who relatively strongly needed/strongly needed written health educational materials was the lowest〔50.84% (1 362/2 679) 〕. Multivariate ordinal Logistic regression analysis showed that age and current occupation were associated with residents' needs of the content of health education (P<0.05) . Moreover, gender, the highest educational attainment, current occupation, and current place of residence were associated with residents' needs of methods for acquiring health education (P<0.05) . And age, the highest educational attainment, current occupation, and current place of residence were associated with residents' needs of the form of health education (P<0.05) . Conclusion Community-dwelling residents showed high demand for the contents, acquisition methods, and forms of health education, which presented a diversified trend. They paid special attention to the content about food safety and disease prevention and treatment, and preferred interactive and video-based health education in terms of form.

Keywords

• health literacy|health science popularization|health education|public health|root cause analysis