3223.0: Monday, October 22, 2001: 4:30 PM-6:00 PM |
Oral Session |
| Moving Targets: Global Health Literacy and Education Reform |
|
| The Massachusetts constitution, the first written
constitution in this country, asserts that it is the
duty of the government to educate the people. However,
findings from the 1993 report of the National Adult
Literacy Survey [NALS] that half of the US adult
population has limited or low functional literacy
skills have put literacy and learning on the national
agenda. Functional literacy refers to the ability of
adults to use prose or documents to accomplish
everyday tasks. Education, another key agenda item, is
starting to address lifelong learning and includes
attention to adult education and literacy. However,
most adults are involved in health related tasks and
the concept of ‘functional health literacy’ has
received a good deal of interest among researchers and
practitioners in public health and health care. Since
publication of NALS, over 250 articles addressing
links between literacy and health have appeared in
medical and public health journals. Consequently,
functional health literacy is an emerging issue,
garnering attention and debate.
Can we make connections between and among these
issues?
The USDHHS publication Health, United States, 1998
notes that education and health are closely related.
Education is generally used as a marker of social
economic statues. However, is there a more profound
and unexplored link between schooling and health?
Might school reform, as currently conceptualized,
influence health literacy? This presentation focuses
on links between schooling and health, between access
to health care and health literacy, and between
education/literacy and health. |
| Learning Objectives: 1. Define functional health literacy and understand its current status and relevance to the national public health agenda.
2. Explain the relationship between education/literacy and health literacy and the potential influences of school reform.
3. List international examples of populations with
high rates of health literacy and low literacy rates and education levels and explanations for this apparent paradox.
4. Describe the similarities between health literacy and social capital. |
| Moderator(s): | Scott Ratzan, MD, MPA |
| Organizer(s): | Meg Young |
| Sponsor: | Public Health Education and Health Promotion |
| Cosponsors: | Social Work; Socialist Caucus |
| CE Credits: | CME, Health Education (CHES), Nursing, Pharmacy, Social Work |