Hello Julie,
 
I do think that Health Literacy has gotten the attention of the health world to some extent and I think it appeals to the general public because it relates to the common experience of having trouble navigating the health care system. 
 
On the other hand I don't think most folks really think about adult basic education when they think of health literacy. I hope, but I am not yet convinced, that interest in health literacy will translate into increased support for ABE programs. Efforts to create and evaluate ABE programs that specifically address health service utilization outcomes (the appropriate use of recommended health services), could help turn the enthusiasm into funding for ABE programs. There should be more effort to carry out well designed evaluations to help define what curricular models work for health literacy outcomes (both for literacy and health). Otherwise there is less likelihood for this enthusiasm to turn into support.
 
Ian Bennett 

________________________________

From: healthliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of Julie McKinney
Sent: Wed 3/19/2008 3:15 PM
To: healthliteracy at nifl.gov
Subject: [HealthLiteracy 1857] Wednesday Question: How does health literacyhelp promote all-around literacy?



Hi Everyone,

As we all know, there has been a growing amount of enthusiasm for health literacy in recent years in a wide variety of disciplines. It has caught the attention of researchers, health promotion organizations, libraries, hospitals, and student leadership organizations, among many others. 

It seems to create a buzz that has alerted the country about the need for literacy improvement in such a large portion of our population. The adult literacy field has been working tremendously hard for many years to address inadequate literacy, and I have heard some suggest that health literacy has been able to galvanize more awareness and support for general literacy needs in a way that the field has been hoping to achieve. Perhaps this is because more people can relate to health literacy than general inadequate literacy?

What do you all think about this? Is this true? In what ways? Why? How can we keep it happening?

thanks,
Julie

Julie McKinney
Discussion List Moderator
World Education/NCSALL
jmckinney at worlded.org

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