Health literacy and eHealth literacy in caregivers of students with special education needs: a cross-sectional survey study

ObjectivesThis study aims to assess the health literacy (HL) and electronic health literacy (e-HL) levels of the caregivers of students with special education needs (SEN) and to compare these levels with the caregivers of students who continue typically developing (TD) education.MethodsThe research was conducted on students with SEN and TD and their caregivers. HL and e-HL levels of the caregivers and sociodemographic characteristics were collected by face-to-face questionnaire. The HL and e-HL levels of caregivers were assessed with the Turkish Health Literacy Scale-32 and e-Health Literacy Scale, respectively.ResultsA total of 138 students and their caregivers, 71 of whom were in SEN and 67 in TD education, participated in the study. The literacy levels and economic status of the caregivers of students with SEN were lower compared to the caregivers of TD students. The HL and e-HL levels of the caregivers of students with SEN were significantly lower than the caregivers of TD students (p = 0.004 and p = 0.037, respectively). Based on the results of multiple regression analysis, it was found that sociodemographic characteristics had a 30% impact on HL (Model 1). For e-HL, the effect of health-related data from the internet was found to be 3.7%.ConclusionsCaregivers of students with SEN demonstrated significantly lower HL and e-HL compared to caregivers of TD students. Developing targeted interventions and policies to enhance HL among caregivers of students with SEN is essential, along with a multidisciplinary approach to address this issue.