Critical health information literacy

theoretical reflections on the vulnerability condition of refugees

Abstract

In Information Science, the term information literacy was used for the first time in 1974 by a US librarian named Paul Zurkowski, in a report entitled: “The information service environment relationships and priorities”. There are certain sectors that govern our lives, which we need to have a minimum of information competence in order to have a more dignified existence, health care being one of these aspects that deserves critical analysis capacity from all human beings. Therefore, education and health are directly related concepts when it comes to disease prevention. Therefore, our goal is to relate information competence, critical information competence, and health information, and to assess, as an example, the importance of this relationship to minimize the risk of contagion from serious diseases, such as the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in vulnerable groups, such as refugees. Methodologically, this is a research based on the literature review about the theme, with exploratory aspects, regarding the relationship between critical health information literacy and the situation of vulnerability of refugees to the risks of contamination with HIV and the development of AIDS. We conclude that critical reflection, information literacy and informational behavior form an inseparable tripod, which is the key to the claim of human rights, including access to health.