Health literacy training for diabetic patients and the role of public libraries: A quasi-experimental study

Objective: Public libraries play a pivotal role in promoting health literacy by providing particular services to their clients. People with inadequate health literacy have poor health performance. Diabetes is regarded as one of the most common diseases among the developing countries. Training diabetic patients via public libraries can promote health information. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of improving health literacy among diabetic patients who are members of a public library and to determine the relationship between the patients’ health literacy level, age and gender. Methods: This is a quasi-experimental study comparing results before and after intervention. The population included 48 diabetic patients as the members of a famous public library in Tehran. A validated Iranian adult health literacy questionnaire was used for data collection and the research was conducted based on direct and indirect intervention. Paired sample t-test and chi-square test were used for data analysis. Results: The results indicated that health literacy training could play a significant role in enhancing the health literacy level of diabetic patients. Furthermore, there was no significant relationship between health literacy level and age. Finally, the diabetic patients' health literacy level increased in both males and females following the intervention. Conclusion: As citizenship training is considered as one of the main responsibilities of public libraries, using educational capacities available in the public libraries for health literacy can result in promoting social health level. Practice Implications: The role of public libraries in promoting health literacy was clarified. Public libraries can provide a range of health education services for adults.