The Health Literacy of First Year Physiotherapy and Speech Pathology Students and Their Perceived Future Roles in Supporting Their Clients’ Health Literacy

Background: Allied health professionals are well positioned to assess and support their clients’ health literacy (HL); however, they report being deficient in HL knowledge and skills. Objective: To explore allied health students’ HL and their perceptions of their roles in supporting clients’ HL. Design: A mixed-methods cross-sectional study was undertaken in August 2022 amongst allied health students enrolled in graduate-entry masters programs at the University of Tasmania. Data collected included the Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ) (n = 30) and qualitative telephone interviews (n = 6). Results: Allied health students’ confidence in the knowledge domain of the HLQ was rated as 28.57 from a maximum possible score of 50. Similarly, the students’ confidence in the skills domain of the HLQ was rated as 14.87 from a maximum possible score of 25. Four themes were generated from the qualitative interviews: (1) valuing HL, (2) an innate part of their future roles, (3) contributors to their own HL, and (4) advocacy and their decision to study allied health. Conclusion: This study provides a preliminary insight into the HL of allied health students and highlights the strong perception held by allied health students that supporting clients’ HL is a large component of their future roles.