Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Low health literacy is highly prevalent among older adults and is associated with poor health outcomes and health-related quality of life. Health literacy intervention can be used to improve health literacy among older adults, however their effectiveness remains unclear. This systematic review aims to identify health literacy interventions and examine its impact on improving health literacy among community-dwelling older adults. We searched research databases up to February 20th, 2023 to identify relevant studies. Eligible studies were randomized controlled trials that conducted health literacy interventions primarily focused on improving health literacy among community-dwelling older adults. Two review authors screened studies for eligibility, completed data extraction with findings narratively summarized, and assessed risk of bias. We identified 11 randomized controlled trials for inclusion in our review. The majority of these trials reported an improvement in the health literacy of older adults. The health literacy interventions varied widely in terms of intervention components, duration, follow-up times, comparison groups, and health literacy measurement tools leading to inconsistent comparisons across interventions. Overall, health literacy interventions can be effective in improving health literacy among community-dwelling older adults to improve health outcomes and healthy aging.