Health Literacy
| Slide
Number |
Title and Content |
| 11 |
Percentage of Adults in Each Literacy
Level: 2003 Narrative: This
slide shows how the health literacy levels compare to the
literacy levels for the prose, document and quantitative scales.
The percent of adults in the Below Basic health literacy level
is more comparable to what we see for the prose and document
scales than for the quantitative scale. A majority of
adults (53 percent) had Intermediate health literacy. An
additional 12 percent of adults had Proficient health literacy.
Among the remaining adults, 22 percent had Basic health literacy
and 14 percent had Below Basic health literacy.
|
| 12 |
Percentage of Adults With Selected
Characteristics in the Below Basic Prose Literacy
Level
| |
Below Basic |
Basic |
Intermediate |
Proficient |
| Prose |
50 |
33 |
15 |
2 |
| Document |
51 |
29 |
18 |
1 |
| Quantitative |
61 |
26 |
11 |
2 |
Narrative: This slide focuses
on the adults in the Below Basic health literacy category (which
constituted 14 percent of adults). About half were Below Basic
in prose and document literacy, and over 60 percent were at
Below Basic on the quantitative scale. Approximately one-fourth
to one third or more had Basic literacy. And one-sixth of those
who scored Below Basic in health literacy were at or above the
Intermediate level in prose (15%) and document literacy (18%),
and less for quantitative literacy (11%). Thus, consistent with
the less than perfect correlation between health literacy and
prose, document, and quantitative scales, these data suggest
that some unique skills are associated with health literacy.
|
| 13 |
Percentage of Adults in the Below Basic
Health Literacy NAAL Population: 2003
| Characteristic |
Percent in Below Basic
population |
Percent in total population |
| Did not graduate from high school |
51 |
15 |
| Did not speak English before starting school |
39 |
13 |
| Adults reporting poor health |
10 |
4 |
| Hispanic adults |
35 |
12 |
| Age 65+ |
31 |
15 |
| No medical insurance |
36 |
18 |
| Did not obtain health information over the Internet1 |
80 |
43 |
| Black adults |
19 |
12 |
| One or more disabilities2 |
48 |
30 |
1The
"Did not obtain health information over the Internet" category
does not include prison inmates because they do not have access
to the Internet.
2Disabilities include vision,
hearing, learning disability, and other health problems.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences,
National Center for Education Statistics, 2003 National
Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL).
Narrative: This slide shows
how the adults with Below Basic health literacy are different
from adults in the population as a whole. The first column lists
the percentage each group represents in the health literacy
Below Basic level. For example, 51 percent of the adults in the
Below Basic level did not graduate from high school. The second
column shows each group’s representation in the general
population. Adults who did not graduate from high school are 15
percent of the entire adult population. So, these adults are
over-represented in the Below Basic category of health literacy.
|
| 14 |
Percentage of Adults in Each Health
Literacy Level, by Educational Attainment: 2003
Narrative: Starting
with adults who had graduated from high school, average health
literacy increased with each higher level of educational
attainment. Among adults who did not complete high school, 49
percent had Below Basic health literacy, compared with 15
percent of adults who ended their education with a high school
diploma. On the other hand, not all those who graduated from
college had intermediate or proficient health literacy skills.
Among those with a four-year college degree, for example, 13
percent had Basic or Below Basic health literacy skills.
|
| 15 |
Percentage of Adults in Each Health
Literacy Level, by Languages Spoken Before Starting School: 2003
Narrative: Adults
who spoke only English before starting school had higher health
literacy scores than did adults who spoke other languages alone
or other languages and English. Adults who spoke only Spanish
before starting school had the lowest mean health literacy
score.
|
| 16 |
Percentage of Adults in Each Health
Literacy Level, by Self-Assessment of Overall Health: 2003
Narrative: About
76 percent of adults, (which includes 57% in the Intermediate
and 19% in Proficient) who reported their overall health was
excellent had Intermediate or Proficient health literacy. In
contrast, 69 percent (which includes 42% Below Basic and 27%
Basic) of adults who reported their health was poor, had Basic
or Below Basic health literacy. These data show that those who
are most in need of health literacy are the ones with the
poorest reported health.
|
| 17 |
Upcoming Reports
| |
Expected Release |
- Literacy in Everyday Life: A report of
literacy in family, workplace, and community
|
Fall 06 |
- Literacy Behind Bars: Report on a nationally
representative sample of adult inmates in state and
federal prisons.
|
Winter 07 |
- Basic Reading Skills and the Literacy of
America's Least Literate Adults: Report on the
oral reading fluency and performance of a
supplemental sample of the least literate adults.
|
Spring 07 |
|
| 18 |
NAAL Web-Site:
http://nces.ed.gov/naal
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