Return-Path: <nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id g38DWWu15645; Mon, 8 Apr 2002 09:32:32 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 8 Apr 2002 09:32:32 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <v0421010bb8d74b09fd95@[128.148.147.35]> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: Janet Isserlis <Janet_Isserlis@Brown.edu> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-FAMILY:932] health literacy X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="============_-1193849927==_ma============" Status: O Content-Length: 8699 Lines: 232 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" Dear all, This post from Christina Zarcadoolas, a colleague at Brown with an abiding interest in and support for our work with adult literacy. I believe that health literacy is embedded in much of the work we do, and particularly within our work around intergenerational literacy. - Janet Isserlis Chris' post: I hope this is appropriate for the list. I,along with my colleagues Andrew Pleasant (Cornell) and Dr. David S. Greer (Brown) , have recently received an NIH/NLM Publication Grant to write a book on health literacy for public health professionals. Attached is a brief abstract. Request: A substantial section of the book will be actual case studies of communication campaigns ( print, broadcast media, web or combination) on timely health issues. Anthrax is one of our cases. We have carefully reviewed a combination of broadcast media information, website information and print information intended for the general public about anthrax and are analyzing the complexity of this information in order to talk about the demands it makes on literacy and assumptions about general public health literacy. In addition we're hoping to include case studies on colon cancer screening, breast cancer, antibiotic resistance, and genomics. We are looking to collect and review actual cases of health campaigns that folks have used. If you have ( or know of) a real world case / campaign on one of these topics, or a similar related topic, I'd like to hear from you. The case will have to include some form of empirical data on the success of the campaign.Please contact me if you believe you have a case that would be of interest to us. Many Thanks, chris NIH/ National Library of Medicine Health Sciences Publication Grant Award Health Literacy: A Guide for Health Professionals Christina Zarcadoolas PhD, Andrew F. Pleasant MA, David S. Greer MD. Abstract Low literacy, poor health and early death are strongly linked in this country and around the world. With approximately 50% of the American public reading at or below the 8th grade level, and the population becoming evermore diverse linguistically and culturally, communicating healthcare and health system information effectively have become complex public health issues. Most health information in print and on the web is written at 10th grade reading level and much higher. The growing complexity of medicine and health care as well as the changing demographics of the country has resulted in poor health literacy among many vulnerable populations including undereducated, low income, ethnic minorities and the elderly. The consequences of low health literacy include inadequate skills to understand and use health care, poor health outcomes, lack of social empowerment and self-efficacy and increased financial costs to the health care system. Thus, health literacy is a major public health issue. This book examines the critical role both basic literacy and health literacy play in public health. We place the discussion of health literacy in an historical context and clearly discuss communication models that can be used to analyze health messages. Central to the book are a number of case examples of specific health communications/ campaigns. Case studies include anthrax, colon cancer screening, breast cancer screening and genomics. These cases are used to discuss both unsuccessful and successful strategies for dealing with complexity in language, relevant cultural characteristics, health concepts, and science knowledge. The book presents best practice guidelines for writing and designing effective materials. The mediums we predominantly focus on are print communications, media campaigns and the world wide web. The target population for this book is health professionals including public health officials, health communicators and health educators as well as writers and designers working with them. Anticipated Completion of Manuscript: September 2003 Contact: Christina Zarcadoolas PhD. Center for Environmental Studies Brown University Box 1943 Providence, RI 02912 caz@brown.edu http://envstudies.brown.edu
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