Health Literacy through Education: A Document Analysis of Thailand’s Basic Health Education Curriculum

Abstract

Health literacy plays a crucial role in fostering informed health decisions and improving health outcomes. This study explores the extent to which Thailand’s basic health education, mandated under the Basic Education Core Curriculum, promotes and aligns with health literacy domains and competencies at a systematic level. Document analysis was employed to systematically study curriculum materials, including curriculum elements, mapped indicators, and issued textbooks. The findings revealed a balanced focus on knowledge retention and application, an underrepresentation of skills to obtain health information, strengths and gaps in the cohesive progression of health literacy competencies, comprehensive coverage of health domains through application, and an overemphasis on health promotion at the expense of other health domains. The study highlights areas that should be reconsidered to incorporate evolving health knowledge and the rapid development of information technology. Implications for future research are discussed.