6005.0: Thursday, October 25, 2001: 8:30 AM-10:00 AM

Oral Session

Functional Literacies for Public Health

Functional literacy, the ability to use the written word for everyday tasks, is an issue of major concern to those of us in public health and most especially to those of us engaged in community based work. Findings from the first national survey of functional literacy among adults in the US have alerted us to the fact that about half of the US adult population has low or limited functional literacy skills. Increased attention has been given to this issue over this past decade; however, the research emphasis has been on issues related to literacy in medical care setting. Literacy based limitations on people's ability to engage in health promoting action, in advocacy and community engagement for healthful change, in disease prevention and/or in occupational health and safety have not been adequately discussed or studied. This panel discussion focuses on an expanded notion of functional public health literacy. We will begin with a brief overview of medical and public health literature addressing literacy issues from the 1970s through the present time. The panel, with audience participation, will focus on gaps and delineate public health concerns not yet addressed. We will then examine implications for a broad range of public health communications [at home, in the community, at work, and in the policy arena] and begin to set an agenda for exploring public health literacy.
See individual abstracts for presenting author's disclosure statement.
Learning Objectives: Refer to the individual abstracts for learning objectives
Organizer(s):Rima E. Rudd, ScD
8:30 AMBarriers to effective navigation of the Medicaid system: A focus on enrollment and utilization
Christine Molnar, MS
8:45 AMFrom the political to the personal: environmental health literacy
Sue A Stableford, MPH, MSB
9:00 AMLiteracy, Access, and Use of Health Services
Karen Seccombe, PhD, Richard Lockwood, MPH, David Morgan
9:15 AMFunctional Literacies for Public Health
Rima E. Rudd, ScD
9:30 AMHealth Literacy and Public Health Practice: Identifying Best Practices
James N. Hyde, MA, SM, Rima Rudd, ScD, Scott Ratzan, MD, MPA, Marla Hoffman, BA, Stacie Bowman, BA
Sponsor:Community Health Planning and Policy Development
Cosponsors:Social Work
CE Credits:CME, Health Education (CHES), Nursing, Pharmacy, Social Work

The 129th Annual Meeting of APHA