Biliamin O Popoola1. 1. Systems/Evidence-Based Medicine Librarian, University of Medical Sciences, Ondo City, Ondo State, Nigeria.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The Goal 3 (SDG-3) of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) incorporates 13 targets that cut across pressing health concerns globally. Health literacy has however been linked to achieving good health in the society, and its improvement in developing economies could aid the achievement of SDG-3. OBJECTIVE: The review focused on identifying actions that can be implemented by libraries to enhance health literacy and access to information among health care practitioners and consumers to support the achievement of SDG-3 in developing countries, especially Nigeria. METHOD: A literature search was conducted on reputable academic databases, namely sciencedirect, doaj, google scholar, pubmed and jstor. Similar keyword combinations were used to obtain articles, with filters set to search the keywords in article titles or abstract. Relevant criteria were used to screen the literature. RESULTS: Results from the literature searching were grouped under six themes that emerged from the literature. The value of libraries in health care was discussed, and suggestions were made for implementation in libraries. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that libraries in developing economies have to take actions to improve users' health literacy in order to become prominent stakeholders in the process of achieving SDG-3.
BACKGROUND: The Goal 3 (SDG-3) of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) incorporates 13 targets that cut across pressing health concerns globally. Health literacy has however been linked to achieving good health in the society, and its improvement in developing economies could aid the achievement of SDG-3. OBJECTIVE: The review focused on identifying actions that can be implemented by libraries to enhance health literacy and access to information among health care practitioners and consumers to support the achievement of SDG-3 in developing countries, especially Nigeria. METHOD: A literature search was conducted on reputable academic databases, namely sciencedirect, doaj, google scholar, pubmed and jstor. Similar keyword combinations were used to obtain articles, with filters set to search the keywords in article titles or abstract. Relevant criteria were used to screen the literature. RESULTS: Results from the literature searching were grouped under six themes that emerged from the literature. The value of libraries in health care was discussed, and suggestions were made for implementation in libraries. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that libraries in developing economies have to take actions to improve users' health literacy in order to become prominent stakeholders in the process of achieving SDG-3.