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Teaching health literacy and digital literacy together at university level: the FLOURISH module

Smeaton, Alan F. orcid logoORCID: 0000-0003-1028-8389 (2023) Teaching health literacy and digital literacy together at university level: the FLOURISH module. Health Education & Behavior, 50 (5). ISSN 1090-1981

Abstract
Many Universities have wellness programs to promote overall health and wellbeing. Using students’ own personal data as part of improving their own wellness would seem to be a natural fit given that most University students are already data and information literate. In this work we aim to show how the interplay between health literacy and data literacy can be used and taught together. The method we use is the development and delivery of the FLOURISH module, an accredited, online-only but extra-curricular course that delivers practical tips in the areas that impact students’ everyday wellness including sleep, nutrition, work habits, procrastination, relationships with others, physical activity, positive psychology, critical thinking and more. For most of these topics students gather personal data related to the topic and submit an analysis of their data for assessment thus demonstrating how students can use their personal data for their benefit. More than 350 students have taken the module and an analysis of the use of online resources as well as feedback on the module experience, are presented. The contributions of this paper are to further endorse the need for health literacy and digital literacy for students and we demonstrate that these can be taught together making each literacy more appealing to the digital natives of Generation Z who make up the majority of students. The implications for public health research and practice are that two student literacies, health and digital, are not independent and for our students they should be taught together.
Metadata
Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:Health literacy; data literacy; student wellness; personal data
Subjects:Medical Sciences > Health
Social Sciences > Education
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Engineering and Computing > School of Computing
Publisher:Sage
Official URL:https://doi.org/10.1177/10901981231163609
Copyright Information:© 2023 The Author.
Funders:Science Foundation Ireland under Grant Number SFI/12/RC/2289_P2, co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund.
ID Code:28274
Deposited On:19 Apr 2023 09:12 by Alan Smeaton . Last Modified 17 Oct 2023 13:58
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