Introduction

The Virginia Adult Education Health Literacy Toolkit grew from many teachers' observations of adult literacy learners whose education paused or ended because a small health problem became bigger and brought on a host of other difficulties. Many adult learners, particularly those with the lowest literacy skills, are unaware of accessible health care options for the un- and underinsured and have a limited understanding of prevention of those conditions for which they are at increased risk. Those who are able to access care often do not know how to advocate for themselves in the complex, changing U.S. health care system. The spoken and written language of the U.S. health care culture seems to them beyond their reach.

This Toolkit is a resource to help adult education instructors and administrators better understand the problem of health literacy as it affects their learners. It is designed to support creative approaches to help learners increase health literacy as they engage in sound, productive adult literacy instruction. Information and resources are provided to educate the educator about health care in the United States and cultural issues relating to health, and to simplify creation of health lessons and curricula for teachers and programs.

The Toolkit

You may view the full table of contents or choose one of the individual sections below.

• Section A: What Is Health Literacy?
• Section B: Why Is Health Literacy So Important?
• Section C: What Resources Are Available?
• Section D: Teaching Health Topics
• Section E: Addressing Teachers' Concerns about Teaching Health
• The Appendices

You may view individual sections of the Toolkit by following the above links, or view the entire Toolkit as a single PDF. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the PDF documents.