Factors Related to Health Literacy in Caring for Pregnant Female Prisoners among Female Correctional Officers
Keywords:
Health literacy, Role perception, Social support, Female correctional officers, Pregnant female prisonersAbstract
Background and Objectives: Pregnant female prisoners are a vulnerable population requiring continuous healthcare. Female correctional officers play important roles in monitoring health conditions, providing basic health information, and coordinating referrals; therefore, they need health literacy appropriate to their roles. This study aimed to 1) examine role perception, social support, and health literacy in caring for pregnant female prisoners among female correctional officers, and 2) examine the relationships of role perception and social support with health literacy in caring for pregnant female prisoners among female correctional officers.
Methods: This descriptive correlational study included 85 female correctional officers working at the Nakhon Ratchasima Central Women Correctional Institution, selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected using questionnaires with S-CVI/UA values ranging from .88 to 1.00 and reliability coefficients ranging from .70 to .96. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient, and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient.
Results: The mean role perception score was 50.82 (S.D. = 12.16), the mean social support score was 20.40 (S.D. = 2.88), and the mean overall health literacy score was 95.11 (S.D. = 18.25), indicating at a fair level. Knowledge and understanding and media literacy were at poor levels. Role perception was positively correlated with overall health literacy (rₛ = .254, p < .05), access to health information and services (rₛ = .456, p < .05), communication (rₛ = .430, p < .05), and self-management (rₛ = .330, p < .05), but was negatively correlated with knowledge and understanding
(rₛ = -.318, p < .05). Social support was positively correlated with overall health literacy (rₛ = .388,
p < .05), access to health information and services (r = .546, p < .05), communication (r = .427,
p < .05), self-management (r = .413, p < .05), and decision-making (r = .341, p < .05).
Conclusion and Recommendations: Female correctional officers had a fair overall level of health literacy in caring for pregnant female prisoners, with limitations in knowledge and understanding and media literacy. Role perception and social support were associated with several dimensions of health literacy. Health literacy should be strengthened, particularly in knowledge and understanding and information appraisal skills. The findings can be used to inform staff development content, develop reliable informational materials or practice guidelines, and establish support systems involving healthcare personnel that are appropriate to the context of correctional institutions.
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