The effect of social media applications on health literacy in Başkent University Vocational School of Health Services students - an intervention study

Health literacy is a critical public health indicator that encompasses individuals' ability to access, understand, evaluate, and apply health-related information effectively. In today's digital age, social media has become a powerful tool for young individuals to obtain health information. In this context, the aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of a social media-based intervention on the health literacy levels of students enrolled in a Vocational School of Health Services and to determine whether social media can serve as an effective tool for improving health literacy. This research was designed as a single-group pre-test/post-test educational intervention study. A total of 293 first-year students from Başkent University Vocational School of Health Services were invited to participate, and 248 students completed the study. The intervention consisted of daily health-related content shared via the Instagram platform over a three-month period. Data were collected using the Social Media Attitude Scale, the E-Health Literacy Scale for Adolescents, and the Turkey Health Literacy Scale (TSOY-32). Data were analyzed using SPSS 25.0, with dependent samples t-tests and Cohen's d effect size calculations. Following the three-month Instagram-based intervention, the mean TSOY-32 score increased significantly from 32.36±6.45 to 36.24±5.57 (p<0.001), with the "Disease Prevention and Health Promotion" subscale showing significant improvement (p<0.001). The effect size was calculated as Cohen's d = 0.73, indicating a moderate effect of the intervention. After the intervention, the proportion of participants with "inadequate" health literacy decreased from 12.9% to 2.0%, and the proportion with "problematic–limited" health literacy decreased from 43.5% to 32.7%. In contrast, the proportions of participants with "sufficient" and "excellent" health literacy increased from 38.3% to 54.8% and from 5.2% to 10.5%, respectively. Furthermore, 81% of participants reported regularly following the social media content, and 77% stated that they had made positive lifestyle changes during the intervention. The most frequently reported behavior changes included improved eating habits (56.0%), increased physical activity (47.6%), better sleep patterns (44.0%), reduced or discontinued smoking (23.0%), and reduced or discontinued alcohol consumption (13.3%). These findings suggest that structured health content delivered via social media can have a positive impact on both cognitive and behavioral aspects of health literacy. This study demonstrated that a structured digital content intervention delivered via the social media platform Instagram was effective in improving the health literacy levels of university students. The findings indicate that social media can be utilized in health literacy–enhancing interventions targeting young adults, and that providing opportunities for elective courses or graduation projects for students in relevant faculties and vocational schools could contribute to public health practices through digital strategies.