Health literacy In Mauritius can be improved among young adults studying at the university in the non-medical field trough structured health interventions. Maurritius which is an island in the indian ocean consisting of 1.2 million inhabitants, of which one fifth suffers from diabetes.The scientific research works undertaken internationally showed evidences of the importance to access and understand health information and contextualised decisions. Research works on health literacy undertaken in several countries have shown the contribution of educational actions to reduce the prevalence of non-communicable diseases, more specifically, in the field of diabetes type 2.

In this research work, we are questioning the conditions underlying the development of health literacy among students enrolled at a University in Mauritius. The strengths and weaknesses are analysed in relation to the educational interventions proposed to a total of 48 students in the Information and Technology field. Through an Intervention-Research process which deploys the “Learning nests”, we are questioning the work underlying the biomedical and psychosocial dimensions of health which takes into account the benefits of socio-constructivism and empowerment in particular context. In terms of methodology, we tried to confront quantitative data collected from 234 multi-dimensional questionnaire HLQ (Health Literacy Questionnaire) with qualitative data (observations, interviews, thematic analysis), which enable analysis of knowledge worked out throughout the educational interventions and their possible acquisition by students.

The results show in general a low level of health literacy of the students. They also show how the educational interventions could allow for the development, in Mauritius, access to and understanding information related to health as well as decisions in favour of prevention of chronic diseases. They finally highlight the strengths and weaknesses of mixed methodologies, pertaining to research in health literacy, which is presently evolving.