Table 5 Linkage between the Nutbeam[52] schema of health literacy and the Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ)

i) Basic/functional health literacy: sufficient basic skills in reading and writing to be able function effectively in everyday situations.

9. Understanding health information well enough to know what to do

2. Having sufficient information to manage my health

8. Ability to find good quality health information

ii) Communicative/interactive health literacy: more advanced cognitive and literacy skills which, together with social skills, can be used to actively participate in everyday activities, to extract information and derive meaning from different forms of communication, and to apply new information to changing circumstances.

1. Feeling understood and supported by healthcare providers

3. Actively managing my health

4. Social support for health

6. Ability to actively engage with healthcare providers

7. Navigating the health system

8. Ability to find good quality health information

iii) Critical literacy: more advanced cognitive skills, which together with social skills, can be applied to critically analyse information, and to use this information to exert greater control over life events and situations.

5. Appraisal of health information

3. Actively managing my health

4. Social support for health