Design, implementation and effect analysis of primary school health literacy curriculum

Health has always been important for people. Health, which is an indispensable need for people who want to live a quality life, is also a prerequisite for people to be productive. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is as important as getting rid of diseases. Health literacy includes accessing health information, evaluating the health information obtained and choosing the right health information, and taking responsibility for those around them as well as applying the correct health information acquired to their own lives. It has been suggested that health literacy education should be started at an early age because health behaviors acquired in childhood directly affect adulthood. Due to the importance of being literate in accessing health information, it has been thought that health literacy education can be started in primary school. In this study, it was aimed to examine the effect of the Health Literacy Curriculum designed for students studying in the fourth grade of primary school on the health literacy level and health literacy success of the students. In line with this purpose, a literature review was conducted first. Then, a needs analysis study was conducted with the participation of 53 fourth-grade primary school students, 33 classroom teachers, 3 family physicians, 2 pediatricians and 3 pedodontists. A five-module Health Literacy Curriculum was designed in line with the health literacy knowledge and skills that fourth-grade primary school students were expected to acquire. After receiving expert opinions on the program design, a pilot application was conducted and the program was made ready for the actual application with the experimental group by making the necessary adjustments. A quasi-experimental design was used in the quantitative dimension of the study, which was conducted with a nested mixed design. The experimental group consisted of 23 students studying in a primary school in Afyonkarahisar in the 2023-2024 academic year, while the control group consisted of 24 students. The quantitative data of the study were collected with the Health Literacy Level Scale, the Health Literacy Achievement Test and end-of-module evaluation activities. The qualitative data of the study were collected with a focus group interview from fourth-grade students, a semi-structured interview form from the parents of the students and field notes kept by the researcher. As a result of the analysis of the collected quantitative data, it was determined that the Health Literacy Curriculum increased the health literacy levels and health literacy achievements of the experimental group students. According to the qualitative findings, it was seen that the Health Literacy Curriculum achieved its objectives and the parents of the students stated that they observed health literacy behaviors in their children. According to the results of the research, it was seen that the health literacy level and health literacy achievements of fourth-grade primary school students could be improved through the Health Literacy Curriculum. Keywords: Health literacy, fourth grade primary school students, curriculum, curriculum development.