Background:

Health literacy or basic health knowledge presupposes an interaction between health professionals and individuals. Thus, mental health is directly related to health literacy, since the former is influenced by the second, and may or may not improve the quality of life of the individual depending on the mental health of each one.

Aim:

To know the level of health literacy in people with mental health disorders assisted at Bom Jesus health home.

Methods:

The sample of this study consisted of 101 patients with mental health disorders who were taken care of at a psychiatric care institution in northern Portugal, of which 23 were externally monitored and 78 were institutionalized in short hospitalization units.

RESULTS:

The results obtained, through the application of a questionnaire and later by the data analysis, evidenced the existence of low levels of health literacy in 71.6% of the respondents. It was also pointed out the existence of a relationship between the age and the qualifications of these people with the level of literacy, however, although there is sufficient statistical evidence to affirm that the level of health literacy is influenced by age or schooling, this relationship is negligible, making it impossible to state that the older the people are, the lower level of health literacy they have, or the higher the level of schooling the higher the level of literacy. It is also possible to check the existence of a relationship between the level of health literacy and people diagnosed with “neurotic disorder”.

CONCLUSIONS:

Thus, we can conclude that health literacy is influenced by people's mental health, since, the second influences the quality and safety of people's health care. People should get intelligence and communication skills and abilities to make wise decisions when it comes to make decisions about their health.

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