International Encyclopedia of Communication Online

Extract

The association between education and health outcomes has been well documented, and education has historically been used as an indicator for socioeconomic status in epidemiological studies ( Pamuk et al. 1998 ). Researchers hypothesize that education may protect against disease by influencing lifestyle behaviors, problem-solving abilities, and values. Other researchers have demonstrated a strong association between education and health by exploring three explanations for this association: (1) education influences work and economic conditions; (2) education influences social psychological resources; and (3) education supports a healthy lifestyle ( Nielsen-Bohlman et al. 2004 ). Although the demonstrated evidence of the association between health and education is strong, the explanations for this association and the underlying mechanisms have not been extensively studied. In the past decade, researchers, mainly rooted in the US, have begun to unpack education in an effort to investigate the factors that may more precisely predict poorer health outcomes and help to explain aspects of disparity (→  Health Disparities, Communication in ). Literacy, specifically health literacy, emerged as a distinct area of research and construct to be examined as one possible pathway for the link between education and health. In the report “Healthy people 2010,” the US Department of Health and Human ... log in or subscribe to read full text