The LifeLab Dublin health literacy intervention for post-primary students

Abstract Background LifeLab Dublin is a health literacy intervention for post-primary students in Ireland from disadvantaged areas, applying a public health education perspective. LifeLab was co-designed by students and teachers from the target population over a number of years, leading to the development of vignettes, resources, and activities that accumulate to create the nine-week programme. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of participation in LifeLab on health literacy and well-being in a cohort of Irish adolescents from areas of social disadvantage. Methods Four schools took part in this study, including 15 class groups with a total of 352 students. Pre-tests were conducted a week before schools started the programme, post-tests within a week following completion, and retention tests three months later. Participants completed health literacy and wellbeing assessments including HLSAC, WHO-5 and Kidscreen-27. IBM SPSS Statistics 24.0 was used to compare pre- post- and retention-data through Repeated Measures ANOVA (General Linear Model - GLM). Results HLSAC scores showed a significant increase over time (p = 0.005), following a steady linear trend (p = 0.002). Although WHO-5 well-being scores showed a slight upward trend, the increase was not significant (p = 0.052). An analysis of the Kidscreen subsections showed that while LifeLab did not significantly affect overall well-being scores, a delayed significant effect was observed in parental well-being scores over time (p = 0.009). The scores followed a significant quadratic (U-shaped) trend (p = 0.006), with a slight decline from pre-test to post-test, followed by a significant increase at retention (p = 0.014). Conclusions Findings point to the potential of LifeLab in impacting health literacy levels of adolescents, but not on wellbeing. Future research is warranted to track Lifelab participants over a longer duration, and investigate other potential impacts of the programme.