Systematic Review of Health Literacy Research Among Justice-Involved Populations

• In Event: Addressing Health Needs During Community Supervision

Abstract

Health literacy has been associated with vaccine uptake, hospitalization, medical adherence, health outcomes, and mortality in the general population. Given that justice-involved individuals are overrepresented among individuals with chronic care conditions, infectious disease, and behavioral health comorbidities, understanding health literacy in this population has important implications for the design and delivery of effective correctional programs. Consequently, we conducted a systematic review of health literacy research in correctional populations. The Academic Search Complete and Criminal Justice Abstracts with Full Text databases were searched with health literacy, corrections, criminal justice, and community-based corrections. This yielded 84 results. Eighteen studies were permitted based on inclusion criteria. Twelve studies examined health literacy interventions, while only six examined the impact of health literacy on outcomes for justice-involved individuals. Few studies reported reliability coefficients, significant effects, or theoretical models, suggesting that more research is warranted, to include identification of reliable and valid measures of health literacy for health promotion interventions in justice-involved populations. Consequently, we use data from a cross-sectional sample of more than 400 justice-involved individuals from 11 corrections programs in Ohio to examine the reliability and validity of the Health Literacy Survey-European Union Consortium assessment instrument. Results from Confirmatory Factor Analysis will be presented.

Authors

• Laura Nolterieke, University of Cincinnati

• Karli Province, University of Cincinnati

• Alexander L. Burton, University of Texas at Dallas

• Aaron Vissman, Talbert House

• Kimberly Sperber, Talbert House