Elderly people use various sources and information for self-care. Often the sources of information are close people from affective networks, but also technical networks through contacts with health professionals. From these, they build ways of acting in health on aging and its relationships with falls.

To analyze the assumptions of health literacy to delimit the concept and possible impacts for its effectiveness in the self-care of the elderly in the face of falls.

Integrative literature review of the concept of Health Literacy, its assumptions for effective self-care of elderly people in the face of falls. To this end, the descriptor “Literacy” was used, in Portuguese, in Databases, through the CAPES Periodicals Portal. Thus, selecting articles related to elderly people's literacy, which discuss the topic of falls.

Initially, 51 articles were located, of which those that did not include elderly literacy and falls in the home/community environment were discarded. Of these, 07 (seven) texts were selected, which in a second reading of the abstract contemplated the theme, remaining with this final number, even after reading all the articles. The assumptions listed were literacy as an enabler, but in its absence, communication through electronic information media supported by health professionals minimizes the educational fragility of the school. Cognitive ability to understand and interpret the meaning of written, spoken, or digital health information provide a critical reflective practice and enhance self-care. As a concept, competence in health literacy is understood as the ability to seek, interpret, criticize, and select health information, producing meaning and transforming it into health actions. To this end, the impact of health literacy on the self-care of elderly people in the face of falls allows them to provide lifelong learning, whether in physical, psychic, social development and in improving the context of life, generating inclusion and citizenship.

Health literacy can be understood as a set of skills used by individuals and communities to seek, select and give meaning to health information. This is influenced by the degree of literacy, cognitive ability and access to information as a basis for building knowledge aimed at transforming it into self-care actions in health. Thus, it generates greater development of the elderly, inclusion and guarantee of social rights.

Health literacy is an element to be considered for empowering the elderly, improving communication and decision-making autonomy in the face of information available, whether through leaflets, manuals, electronic devices, and health professionals. Thus, producing health promotion actions, prevention of falls and rehabilitation in the face of the aging process and falls.