ADDRESSING HEALTH LITERACY IN THE GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL (GCC) COUNTRIES: AN INTEGRATIVE REVIEW PROTOCOL TO SUMMARIZE THE HEALTH LITERACY LANDSCAPE

Abstract

Introduction: In the world of an ever-evolving face of healthcare practice and policies, it is increasingly becoming more imperative that the greater population is enabled to keep up with the pace of changes and reforms in healthcare. However, to do this, we need to ensure healthcare consumers can access, evaluate and create change in a way that is meaningful and understandable to them. Objective: The aim of this integrative review is to assess health literacy within the GCC countries in order to provide a picture of the state of health literacy. Method: An integrative review using the Whittemore and Knafl framework was utilized in order to review empirical studies will be undertaken. This study will also look at grey literature in order to review the evidence that is written about health literacy in the GCC countries. Discussion: The results are expected to provide a landscape of the current practice in the GCC counties as well as to inform future practice related to caregiving and the influence of health literacy on that realm. Keywords: Health Literacy, GCC Countries, Review protocol, Health Literacy Landscape