Effect of Education Based on Health Locus of Control Theory on Health Literacy among Older Adult

  Health literacy is one of the most important variables in maintaining and improving the health of all, especially among elderly people. In addition the Health Locus of Control (HLC) theory, is considered as one of the tools which used in planning health education programs. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of education based on the Health Locus of Control (HLC) theory on health literacy among elderly persons. A parallel, randomized field trial study conducted among seniors 60 to 75 years, residents in Bardaskan in 2017. Using balanced block randomization, the participants were randomly allocated into intervention and control group. The required data were gathered by adult health literacy and HLC questionnaires. The data were entered in SPSS 21 software and were analyzed using and T-test (independent, paired). We used data from 91 completed questionnaires (intervention group= 46, control group = 45) to perform the analysis. Before intervention, the mean and standard deviation of health literacy in experimental and control group were 52.60 (11.95) and 48.07 (12.54), respectively (P= 0.080). These amounts were 77.68 (7.60) in intervention group and 51.18 (13.99) in control group after the intervention (p<0.001). The results indicated that educational intervention based on the theory of health locus of control could affect the health literacy of elderly. By recognizing health control beliefs of elderly people, it seems that appropriate educational programs can be developed to educate and develop health literacy of this group.