Bridging the gap in health literacy research: The inclusion of individuals with visual impairments.

Abstract

Patient education and health literacy aim to enhance understanding of health and self-care for optimal health outcomes. However, the attention towards populations with visual impairments requiring specialized accommodations for improved health literacy and healthcare access appears to be insufficient METHODS: In an effort to bridge this gap, we conducted a scoping review focusing on health literacy studies undertaken specifically for individuals with visual impairments. We encapsulate the main findings and constraints of preceding studies and deliberate on the influence of health literacy research for individuals with visual impairments on healthcare inequalities and health disparities. A health-literate approach, combined with an accessible healthcare environment, can serve as a catalyst to motivate individuals with visual impairments to actively engage in their self-care practices. It is of utmost urgency to develop and validate a health literacy assessment tool for visually impaired individuals, and to utilize it for providing healthcare interventions as well as health education.