Gesundheitskompetenz von Flüchtlingen - Eine qualitative Analyse der Gesundheitskompetenz von syrischen Flüchtlingen in Österreich

Background Health Literacy is gaining importance in Public Health as well as in Politics. It is deemed to be an unequally distributed but influenceable social determinant. There is no data of Health Literacy of Refugees who live in Austria available. Being a refugee, however, means a higher risk in having bad Health Literacy. That is why this work deals with an important and seminal topic of the 21st century. Objective The aim of this work is to gain knowledge of Health Literacy of Refugees through a 360-degree-feedback-interview as well as to define fields of action for Occupational Therapists to promote Health Literacy of this target group. Moreover the question shall be answered if Health Literacy matters to Health Inequality. Method To be able to answer the research questions there has been taken a literature research and interviews. Results The results indicate that Health Literacy of Refugees shall be promoted because of lack in language skills and systematic knowledge and not because of aspects that are specific for Refugees only. Refugees themselves experience that Occupational Deprivation and unemployment cause their limited Health Literacy. Occupational therapists are able to promote Health Literacy of Refugees because of their holistic and client-centred approach and through promoting meaningful activities. It is not clear if Health Literacy affects Health Inequality or conversely, but experts think that there is an interaction of these two factors for sure. One expert even finds that Health Literacy has a mediator function within the social determinants and that the promotion of Health Literacy can cause many other positive effects on education or income for example.