Learning Together to Think Critically About Health Information
A Participatory Case Study in Progress
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29173/cais1989Abstract
This participatory case study investigates how collaborative learning can enhance critical health literacy, which is instrumental for making informed health decisions, managing, and preventing health problems. Data collection sources include participant observations, interviews, and project documents, which will be analyzed using deductive-inductive thematic analysis. The study focuses on one case – a group that meets regularly online, hosted by an independent community library in Montreal, Canada. As this is research in progress, preliminary findings will be shared. Ultimately, this community-based project will provide useful insights to community partners, librarians, health organizations, and educators.
References
Abel, T., & McQueen, D. (2020). Critical health literacy and the COVID-19 crisis. Health
Promotion International, 35(6), 1612–1613. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daaa040
Batterham, R. W., Hawkins, M., Collins, P. A., Buchbinder, R., & Osborne, R. H. (2016). Health
literacy: Applying current concepts to improve health services and reduce health
inequalities. Public Health, 132, 3–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2016.01.001
Boivin, A., Penafiel, M., Rouly, G., Lahaie, V., Codsi, M., Isabel, M., & White-Guay, B. (2020).
Covid-19—A pivotal moment in community care. BMJ Opinion.
https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2020/04/07/covid-19-a-pivotal-moment-in-community-care/
Chinn, D. (2011). Critical health literacy: A review and critical analysis. Social Science &
Medicine, 73(1), 60–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.04.004
Coulter, A., & Ellins, J. (2007). Effectiveness of strategies for informing, educating, and
involving patients. BMJ, 335(7609), 24–27. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39246.581169.80
Creswell, J., & Creswell, J. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed
methods approaches (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Dalkir, K. (2017). Knowledge management in theory and practice (3rd ed.). MIT Press.
de Wit, L., Fenenga, C., Giammarchi, C., di Furia, L., Hutter, I., de Winter, A., & Meijering, L.
(2017). Community-based initiatives improving critical health literacy: A systematic
review and meta-synthesis of qualitative evidence. BMC Public Health, 18(1), 40.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-017-4570-7Dillenbourg, P. (1999). What do you mean by collaborative learning? In P. Dillenbourg (Ed.),
Collaborative-learning: Cognitive and computational approaches (pp. 1–19). Elsevier.
Eysenbach, G. (2020). How to fight an infodemic: The four pillars of infodemic management.
Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(6), e21820. https://doi.org/10.2196/21820
Fereday, J., & Muir-Cochrane, E. (2006). Demonstrating rigor using thematic analysis: A hybrid
approach of inductive and deductive coding and theme development. International
Journal of Qualitative Methods, 5(1), 80–92. /z-wcorg/.
Green, L. A., Fryer, G. E., Yawn, B. P., Lanier, D., & Dovey, S. M. (2001). The ecology of
medical care revisited. New England Journal of Medicine, 344(26), 2021–2025.
https://doi.org/10.1056/nejm200106283442611
Israel, B. A., Schulz, A. J., Parker, E. A., & Becker, A. B. (1998). Review of community-based
research: Assessing partnership approaches to improve public health. Annual Review of
Public Health, 19, 173–202. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.publhealth.19.1.173
Jackson, D. N., Trivedi, N., & Baur, C. (2021). Re-prioritizing digital health and health literacy
in Healthy People 2030 to affect health equity. Health Communication, 36(10), 1155–
1162. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2020.1748828
Kendir, C., & Breton, E. (2020). Health literacy: From a property of individuals to one of
communities. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(5),
1601. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051601
Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldaña, J. (2020). Qualitative data analysis: A methods
sourcebook (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.Myron, R., French, C., Sullivan, P., Sathyamoorthy, G., Barlow, J., & Pomeroy, L. (2018).
Professionals learning together with patients: An exploratory study of a collaborative
learning fellowship programme for healthcare improvement. Journal of Interprofessional
Care, 32(3), 257–265. https://doi.org/10.1080/13561820.2017.1392935Nutbeam, D. (2000). Health literacy as a public health goal: A challenge for contemporary health
education and communication strategies into the 21st century. Health Promotion
International, 15(3), 259–267.
Nutbeam, D., McGill, B., & Premkumar, P. (2017). Improving health literacy in community
populations: A review of progress. Health Promotion International, 33(5), 901–911.
Paakkari, L., & Okan, O. (2020). COVID-19: Health literacy is an underestimated problem.
Lancet Public Health, 5(5), e249.
Patton, M. Q. (2014). Qualitative research & evaluation methods: Integrating theory and
practice (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Rowlands, G., Shaw, A., Jaswal, S., Smith, S., & Harpham, T. (2017). Health literacy and the
social determinants of health: A qualitative model from adult learners. Health Promotion
International, 32(1), 130–138.
Spring, H. (2020). Health literacy and COVID-19. Health Information & Libraries Journal,
37(3), 171–172. https://doi.org/10.1111/hir.12322
Sykes, S., Wills, J., Rowlands, G., & Popple, K. (2013). Understanding critical health literacy: A
concept analysis. BMC Public Health, 13(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-
13-150Trezona, A., Rowlands, G., & Nutbeam, D. (2018). Progress in implementing national policies
and strategies for health literacy—What have we learned so far? International Journal of
Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(7), 1554.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15071554
van Kessel, R., Wong, B., Clemens, T., & Brand, H. (2022). Digital health literacy as a super
determinant of health: More than simply the sum of its parts. Internet Interventions, 27,
100500. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2022.100500
Wallerstein, N., & Duran, B. (2008). The theoretical, historical, and practice roots of CBPR. In
M. M. and N. B. Wallerstein (Ed.), Community-based participatory research for health:
From process to outcomes (pp. 25–46). Jossey-Bass.
World Health Organization. (n.d.). Community engagement: A health promotion guide for
universal health coverage in the hands of the people.
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240010529
Wu, V. X. (2021). Health promotion in the community via an intergenerational platform:
Intergenerational e-Health Literacy Program (I-HeLP). In G. Haugan & M. Eriksson
(Eds.), Health Promotion in Health Care – Vital Theories and Research. Springer.
Yin, R. K. (2014). Case Study Research: Design and Methods (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Zarocostas, J. (2020). How to fight an infodemic. Lancet, 395(10225), 676.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Vera Granikov, Liz Perrin

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.