Work

Public health nurses’ experiences with work aimed at increasing adolescents’ health literacy: a qualitative study

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Health literacy is essential for maintaining good health by enabling individuals to make informed and beneficial health choices in their daily lives. Enhancing health literacy in adolescents is important, because it can empower them to become more engaged with and actively participate in their own health. More knowledge is needed on how public health nurses work to enhance health literacy among adolescents. Therefore, the objective of this study is to explore public health nurses' experiences with work aimed at enhancing adolescents' health literacy. METHODS: The study was inspired by a phenomenological-hermeneutic approach. A qualitative research method was used, in which eight public health nurses from the school health service in the southern part of Norway were interviewed individually. The data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis approach. RESULTS: Three main themes were identified: (1) Public health nurses use multiple approaches to enhance adolescents' health literacy; (2) Health information during adolescence is influenced by social media; and (3) Parental involvement is crucial during adolescence. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates the unique position of public health nurses in enhancing health literacy among adolescents and their parents. A core component of their work is focused on normalizing aspects of adolescents' everyday lives, such as emotions and body image, which is vital considering adolescents' exposure to unrealistic social media images and misleading health information found online. Furthermore, public health nurses play an important role in maintaining parental involvement, and they offer reliable, evidence-based guidance and support to adolescents and parents. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.

Source: BMC Nursing

DOI: 10.1186/s12912-025-03976-z

Authors: Eden van der Schuur, Hilde Timenes Mikkelsen

Institutions: Kristiansand Municipality, University of Agder

Language: English

Topic: Health Literacy and Information Accessibility

Subfield: General Health Professions

Field: Health Professions

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,090