Regarding the role of women- I use these references to make the argument.

Women as health care consumers  ( need to tie this together) 

"As the main organizers of family health care, women’s understanding and action on health problems are central to health improvement (Lorber, 1995). The feminization of poverty (Ballara, 1996), as well as the roles that women play in the intergenerational transfer of language, literacy and learning (Sticht and McDonald, 1989) suggest that a focus on women’s health literacy  is an essential."

 

Chris

 
Christina Zarcadoolas PhD
Health and Environmental Literacy 
Dept. of Community and Preventive Medicine 
Mt. Sinai School of Medicine 
Box 1043
One Gustave Levy Place
New York, NY 10029
212-241-0625
Christina.Zarcadoolas at mssm.edu
http://directory.mssm.edu/faculty
 
The perfect is the enemy of the good

	-----Original Message----- 
	From: healthliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Muro, Andres 
	Sent: Tue 9/12/2006 5:36 PM 
	To: The Health and Literacy Discussion List 
	Cc: 
	Subject: [HealthLiteracy 402] Re: Results of NAAL Health
	
	

	Bob: 

	 

	I know that I’ve read the reference somewhere, but I cannot recall from the top of my head. That is also from experience with our students. Essentially, the homemaker tends to be the children’s caretaker. Women are the ones who take children to the doctor, shop for medicine, cook, talk to pharmacists and doctors, apply for medicaid, know the insurance information, enroll children in sports, make sure that the children follow the doctor’s directions, etc. This has been the traditional role. Of course this has changed somewhat, but in my experience, it is still the rule. I know that I wrote something about this and it is somewhere in the web, but I cannot find it now. Hope this helps,

	 

	Andres

	 

	
  _____  


	From: healthliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:healthliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Dickerson, Robert
	Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2006 12:46 PM
	To: The Health and Literacy Discussion List
	Subject: [HealthLiteracy 401] Re: Results of NAAL Health

	 

	Hi Andres,

	 

	Thank you for the summary. I am doing some work with using Ask Me 3 to help improve health care provider - patient communication. Our patient surveys indicate that our program increased the patient's perception of that communication. When we drilled down into the results, women's scores typically demonstrated a more marked improvement than men.

	 

	In your e-mail, demonstrating slightly higher health literacy levels in women compared to men, you mention that it is not surprising as women are usually the health providers for the entire family.

	 

	Do you know of literature that supports this and/or discusses this relationship? I am wanting to find out more about this so that I can better understand and explain our study results.

	 

	Thanks very much,

	Bob

	 

	Bob Dickerson, MSHSA, RRT

	Clinical Resource Coordinator, Clinical Quality

	Iowa Health - Des Moines

	Des Moines, Iowa

	Phone: (515) 263-5792

	Fax: (515) 263-5415

	E-mail: DICKERR2 at ihs.org

	Website: www.ihsdesmoines.org <http://www.ihsdesmoines.org/> 

	 

	 

	
  _____  


	From: healthliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:healthliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Muro, Andres
	Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2006 12:58 PM
	To: The Health and Literacy Discussion List
	Subject: [HealthLiteracy 400] Results of NAAL Health

	Here is my summary of the results of the health NAAL.

	 

	Andres

	 

	National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) Health Literacy of America’s Adults 

	 

	Four levels:

	 

	1.	Below Basic: indicates no more than the most basic and concrete literacy skills. 
	2.	Basic: indicates skills to perform simple and everyday literacy activities. 
	3.	Intermediate: indicate skills to perform moderately challenging literacy activities 
	4.	Proficient: indicates skills to perform more challenging and complex literacy activities 

	 

	I equate below level to reading skills and math skills of someone in the third grade. Basic would be someone with reading and math skills below seventh grade. Intermediate would be someone with the skills of a high school student. Proficient would define the skills of a high school graduate. Note that this in not a scientific comparison but my own estimation based on my years in the education field. 

	 

	Result of the health NAAL:

	 

Percentage of adults in each literacy level

Percentage of males in each literacy level

Percentage of females in each literacy level

Below basic: 14%

Basic: 22%

Intermediate: 53%

Proficient: 12%

Below basic: 16%

Basic: 22%

Intermediate: 51%

Proficient: 11%

Below basic: 12%

Basic: 21%

Intermediate: 55%

Proficient: 12%

	 

	Note that women scored higher than males. This is not surprising since women are usually the health providers of the entire family. 

	 

Percentage of Whites in each  literacy level

Percentage of Blacks in  each literacy level

Percentage of Hispanics each literacy level

Below basic: 9%

Basic: 19%

Intermediate: 58%

Proficient: 14%

Below basic: 24%

Basic: 34%

Intermediate: 41%

Proficient: 2%

Below basic: 41%

Basic: 25%

Intermediate: 31%

Proficient: 4%

	 

	Note the very high numbers of Hispanics below basic. This is likely because they are not native English speakers. 

	 

	Based on this assessment, one third to one half of all adults does not understand written information related to health well or at all. There is a third that understands information better. Only 14% of all adults can understand health related information well. 

	 

	For more info go to: http://nces.ed.gov/naal/

	 

	 


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