Community Health Literacy as an empowerment tool for preventing non-communicable and emerging infectious diseases: What, How, and Why?

Abstract

Non-communicable diseases and emerging Infectious diseases such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have impacted the global citizens. The prevention of those diseases can be achieved by modifying daily lifestyles. Therefore, efforts have been paid to raise awareness and promote healthy lifestyles and preventive measures among people at the community level. However, people in communities have consumed enormous health information from various channels and many have received continuous trainings from health professionals. Many communities have supportive environments for healthy living, but there is still lack of efficient and effective transitions from hospitals to the communities. In many countries, health literacy and community health literacy have been applied to build a bridge between hospitals and communities to assist the transition of care and health promotion and empower people in communities. This article will guide evidence-based practices for developing health literate communities as an empowerment tool for preventing non-communicable and emerging Infectious diseases. The practices were drawn from 16 studies that aimed to develop community-based health literacy programs and health literate communities in Thailand. The studies were carried out between 2017 – 2022. The content of this article is presented based on the concept of communication enhancing technique “Ask me 3”. It starts with “what is a health literate community?”, followed by “What needs to be done?”, and “why is it important to do those developing processes?”. By organizing the content in line with the Ask me 3 technique, it might help the readers to better understand, apply, and convey the messages to those who are seeking better ways to empower their communities.