Health Literacy and Preventive Behaviors of Undergraduate University Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The situation of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is full of unpredictability, uncertainty about the severity of the disease, and incorrect information. Therefore, health literacy preparation is the key to preventing COVID-19 and having the correct health behaviors. The objectives of this study were 1) to study health literacy on COVID-19 and prevention behaviors of COVID-19 among undergraduate students at Mahasarakham University, and 2) to compare health literacy on COVID-19 and prevention behaviors of COVID-19 among undergraduate students at Mahasarakham University, classified by genders, academic years, grade point averages (GPAs), and faculty groups. The participants were 417 undergraduate students at Mahasarakham University chosen by stratified random sampling and simple random sampling. The research instruments were as follows: the questionnaire on health literacy on COVID-19 and the questionnaire on COVID-19 prevention’s behavior. The data were analyzed using percentage (%), mean (M), standard deviation (S.D.), independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA. The findings revealed that 1) undergraduate students were well versed in health literacy for the COVID-19 infection and their prevention behaviors of COVID-19 infection were at a good level (M = 90.06, S.D. = 9.54; M = 86.87, S.D. = 11.50) and 2) female undergraduate students had statistically higher mean scores on COVID-19 health literacy scores and COVID-19 prevention’s behaviors than males. Students from the health sciences faculty group had statistically significantly higher average health literacy scores on COVID-19 infection than those from the technology sciences faculty group.

Nursing students’ understanding of health literacy and health practices: a cross-sectional study at a university in Namibia

Background A poor understanding of health literacy and inadequate health practices among nurses can be detrimental to a population’s health. The starting point of solving this problem is through the provision of methodical health literacy and health practice education in the nursing curriculum. This study explored nursing students’ understanding of the concept of ‘health literacy’ and their health practices at a university in Namibia. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among 205 nursing students. A simple stratified sampling method was used and data were collected using a self-reporting Understanding of Health Literacy (UHL) questionnaire. Pearson correlation, independent t-test and One-way ANOVA were used to analyse the data. Results The overall mean Understanding of Health Literacy score was 13.04 ± 1.52. The majority (n = 157; 76.5%) of the students were found to have adequate health literacy scores, 21.5% had moderate health literacy scores, and only 2% had inadequate health literacy scores. The overall mean health practice score was 32.4 ± 5.50. Most (n = 106; 51.7%) of the students were found to have poor health practices, 44.4% had average health practices, and just 3.9% had good health practices. There was no significant relationship between the health literacy levels and health practices of the students (p = 0.63). Conclusions Nursing students have a good understanding of the concept of health literacy, but more effort can be made to translate this understanding into health literacy skills. There is a need to investigate the contributing factors to poor health practices, as well as develop strategies that can support good health practices among nursing students. These health literacy skills could then be transferred into the students' professional careers as nurses.

Narrative Analysis in Adolescents With Fragile X Syndrome

This study analyzed narratives of male and female adolescents with fragile X syndrome (FXS). The impact of structural language, cognition and autism symptomatology on narrative skills and the association between narratives and literacy were examined. Narratives from 32 adolescents with FXS (24 males, 8 females) were analyzed for macrostructure. Relationships between narrative macrostructure, language scores, cognitive scores, Childhood Autism Rating Scale-Second Edition scores and literacy skills were examined. Males produced more simplistic narratives, whereas the females' narratives were more complex. Language scores predicted narrative scores above and beyond nonverbal cognitive skills and autism symptomatology. Narrative scores correlated with literacy scores. Narrative skills in FXS are predicted by language skills and are correlated with literacy skills. Investigation into narrative interventions in FXS is needed.

Kepatuhan di Tengah Kompleksitas Pajak: Apakah Literasi Memiliki Peran?

ABSTRACT Tax regulations have become increasingly complex in recent years. Therefore, this study aims to determine whether the tax complexity can reduce tax compliance. Furthermore, this study also intends to find out whether public literacy can play a role in maintaining compliance despite experiencing complex taxation aspects. This study uses secondary data in the form of complexity scores, tax effort, and literacy scores of various countries around the world. The sample of this study amounted to 52 countries, which were obtained by the purposive sampling method. This research is a quantitative study using moderated regression analysis. This study found that tax complexity is proven to reduce tax compliance. However, literacy cannot weaken these negative effects. The results of this study imply that the government needs to consider the complexity of regulations and procedures for fulfilling tax obligations to increase tax revenues. ABSTRAK Regulasi pajak semakin kompleks pada beberapa tahun terakhir. Oleh sebab itu, penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui apakah kompleksitas pajak dapat mengurangi kepatuhan pajak. Selain itu, penelitian ini juga bermaksud untuk mencari tahu apakah literasi masyarakat dapat berperan untuk mempertahankan kepatuhan meskipun mengalami aspek perpajakan yang kompleks. Studi ini menggunakan data sekunder berupa skor kompleksitas, tax effort, serta skor literasi berbagai negara di dunia. Adapun sampel penelitian ini berjumlah 52 negara, yang diperoleh dengan metode purposive sampling. Penelitian ini adalah studi kuantitatif dengan menggunakan analisis regresi dengan pemoderasi. Penelitian ini menemukan bahwa kompleksitas pajak terbukti dapat mengurangi kepatuhan pajak. Namun demikian, literasi tidak dapat memperlemah efek negatif tersebut. Hasil penelitian ini berimplikasi bahwa pemerintah perlu mempertimbangkan kompleksitas regulasi maupun tata cara pemenuhan kewajiban perpajakan untuk dapat meningkatkan pendapatan pajak.

Role of factors in eHealth literacy in period of COVID-19: a study of Turkey

PurposeThis study aims to understand the eHealth literacy skills of chronic patients and to explore the relations, patterns between eHealth literacy skills and different factors such as demographics, search strategies and health information sources and to explain their effects on eHealth literacy in Turkey in Izmir in COVID-19 outbreak.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative method was used in the study including a questionnaire. A total of 604 chronic patients responded to the questionnaire who applied the five popularly identified hospitals in Izmir in Turkey. CHAID analysis method was implemented to explore the strongest correlation between eHealth literacy and independent variables.FindingsUsing different social media types were correlated with patients’ eHealth literacy scores. Using Facebook, Twitter were the supportive predictors for the eHealth literacy scores. However, digital literacy was highly important for eHealth literacy.Originality/valueThis study shows that the social media channels which provides much more information such as Facebook and Twitter for the chronic patient. This could be beneficial for the eHealth tools and social media content developers in terms of the supply of health information. Moreover, the study gives ideas about the effect of digital literacy and the importance of health information provided.

Do Financial Literacy and Technology Affect Intention to Invest in the Capital Market in the Early Pandemic Period?

Research aims: This paper discusses the effect of financial literacy and automatic investment technology on intention to invest in the capital market during the early pandemic.Design/Methodology/Approach: The research population was students studying economics and finance in institutions located in Yogyakarta Special Region Province. The sample of 384 respondents was obtained through questionnaires distributed online. To test the impact of financial literacy and automatic investment technology on intention to participate in the capital market, multiple linear regression was used.Research findings: The researchers found that financial literacy and automatic investment technology affected students’ intention to invest in the capital market. The number of students with a moderate level of financial literacy score dominated, followed by the students with low and high literacy scores. Besides, students’ background in economic and finance appeared inadequate to solely determine the financial literacy score.Theoretical contribution/Originality: This paper contributes to the investment area, especially related to the automatic investment technology “Robo advisor,” that is still rarely studied yet, which will be a significant issue in the future. It also provides empirical results, which explain the investment intention through financial literacy. Moreover, this study was conducted during the massive growth of investors in Indonesia during the pandemic.Practitioner/Policy implication: This study provides a useful reference to the financial sector, especially the capital market. Inclusive programs regarding financial literacy should be expanded for wider society to enhance their knowledge and dismiss lack of confidence in capital market participation. Private sectors providing automatic investment technology are suggested to continue developing a more convenient application to be accessible by a broader range of society.Research limitation/Implication: The research included only students as the sample; hence, further research may use a larger area of the sample with various backgrounds and ages. Other determinants, such as norms, environment, risk, and more advanced financial literacy measurement, can also be added to enrich future studies and literature.

Financial literacy among Finnish adolescents in PISA 2018: the role of financial learning and dispositional factors

The aim or the present study was to examine the relative importance of financial education in school and families and dispositional factors (competitiveness, work mastery, meta-cognition) in predicting financial literacy among Finnish adolescents. The data on the 4328 Finnish 15-year-olds was drawn from the PISA 2018 assessment. Financial literacy was measured by tests, and financial education and dispositional factors were assessed by adolescent questionnaires. First, the results showed that financial education in school was positively associated with adolescents’ financial literacy skills, whereas parental involvement in financial matters did not relate or related negatively to financial literacy scores. Second, dispositional factors, such as competitiveness, work mastery, and meta-cognition (effective strategies to understand/remember information, to summarize information, and to evaluate source credibility) were the strongest positive predictors of the financial literacy scores. Overall, the present study emphasizes that certain social factors (schools and families) and especially dispositional characteristics (personality/motivation and critical thinking/learning strategies) may shape the development of the financial skills of adolescents.

Familiarity and genetic literacy among medical students in Indonesia

Background There is a lack of genetic knowledge among health care professionals especially in some developing countries such as Indonesia. Based on our experience, genetic disorders receive less attention in medical education and professionals. This study aims to determine the familiarity and literacy of genetics among medical students in Indonesia. Methods A total of 1003 Indonesian medical (pre-clinical and clinical) students completed the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Genetics (REAL-G) questionnaire with a total score of seven for familiarity and eight for genetic literacy. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the familiarity and genetic literacy scores between pre-clinical and clinical students. Results The average scores of familiarity and genetic literacy were 5.63 ± 0.96 and 6.37 ± 0.83, respectively. Genetic familiarity was higher (p = 0.043) among clinical students than pre-clinical students, while there was no significant difference in genetic literacy (p = 0.362) between pre-clinical and clinical students. Genetic familiarity does not impact the level of genetic literacy. However, medical students’ genetic literacy is influenced by demographic characteristics, such as age, sex, university type, genetic learning experience, university accreditation, and university location. Conclusions In general, Indonesian medical students have relatively good familiarity and literacy in genetics although further study is necessary to accurately measure the genetic familiarity and literacy in medical students and general public.

Can a Budget Recording Tool Teach Financial Skills to Youth?: Experimental Evidence from a Financial Diaries Study

We study the impact of a mobile app to record daily financial transactions, coupled with enumerator monitoring visits every two weeks, on youths' investment in financial literacy and financial behavior. The treatment led to a positive and statistically significant effect on financial literacy scores and greater awareness of market prices. Youth in the treatment group experienced significant improvements in access to credit. These effects persist eight months after the intervention is over.

The Influence of Instructional Delivery Modality on Sustainability Literacy

As human environmental impacts have increased, so has the desirability of sustainable practices in multiple dimensions and at multiple scales. In this context, sustainability literacy has become a desirable outcome of higher education, driving the advance of sustainability as a core component of higher education institutions’ missions at local, regional, and global scales. However, little is known about the efficacy of different instructional delivery modalities of higher education courses in delivering desired outcomes of sustainability education. This study employed a quasi-experimental design to explore the relative influence of a limited range of instructional delivery modalities and sustainability content (study abroad/home campus and sustainability/non-sustainability) on growth of sustainability literacy among university students. Within each modality (study abroad or home campus), studying sustainability was associated with higher sustainability literacy scores than studying non-sustainability. However, studying non-sustainability courses abroad showed comparable growth in students’ sustainability literacy scores compared to studying sustainability on home campuses. These results support not only the idea that sustainability can be taught but also that study abroad, regardless of course content, may be at least as effective at increasing sustainability literacy as home campus sustainability-related courses.