Background and Aim: With the growing access of adolescents to cyberspace and the changing landscape of health authority, digital health literacy has emerged as a new necessity. The Iranian education system currently lacks a comprehensive and contextually appropriate curriculum in this field. This study aimed to explore the factors influencing the design of a digital health literacy curriculum for lower secondary education and to develop a context-specific model.
Methods: This applied study employed a qualitative approach and a grounded theory strategy based on the systematic model of Strauss and Corbin (2002). The study population consisted of experts and scholars in the fields of curriculum studies, health literacy, and educational technology. Using purposive sampling and the snowball technique, 14 experts were selected, and data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was conducted in three stages: open, axial, and selective coding.
Results: During open coding, 1,260 initial codes were categorized into 37 concepts and organized into six major categories: causal conditions (curriculum obsolescence, the digital health literacy crisis, changes in health authority, the commercialization of health, and the knowledge–behavior gap); contextual conditions (school structure, teacher competence, family circumstances, technological infrastructure, and educational policies); intervening conditions (media-related, cultural-social, and economic factors, as well as supportive factors and barriers); strategies (integration, teacher empowerment, family participation, innovative methods, and macro-level policymaking); consequences (12 components across cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and social dimensions, as well as model design); and the core phenomenon (enhancing digital health literacy through the redesign of a multilayered and dynamic curriculum). Accordingly, seven theoretical propositions were derived, outlining a paradigmatic, dynamic, and self-regulating model.
Conclusion: Designing a digital health literacy curriculum requires a multidimensional approach that integrates health literacy into school subjects, empowers teachers, engages families, and employs innovative methods, with particular emphasis on “emotional regulation before thinking.” Such an approach can contribute to enhancing critical thinking, reducing cyberchondria, facilitating a shift from reactive behavior toward self-regulation, and fostering students as health ambassadors.