Session: Clear Health Communications: Issues and Solutions
4182.1: Tuesday, November 18, 2003: 2:30 PM-4:00 PM
Oral
Clear Health Communications: Issues and Solutions
This one-and-a-half hour session will highlight health literacy as a public health issue, communication challenges within multicultural populations, literacy in health contexts, and community involvement in improving health literacy. The first presenter will cover health literacy as a public health issue, highlighting the scope of its impact and current statistics. During the second presentation, communication challenges within multicultural populations will be examined, including challenges specific to communicating health information to English as a Second Language (ESL) patients. In the third presentation, health literacy experts will provide a re-analysis of the National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS) and discuss the link between traditional literacy and health literacy. During the final session presentation, information will be presented on how local communities can work directly to improve health literacy.
Learning Objectives: By the end of this session, participants will be able to: 1. Comprehend the scope of health literacy as a pressing public health issue. 2. Appreciate the communication challenges specific to multicultural populations. 3. Recognize health literacy issues as related to health contexts and outcomes. 4. Consider initiatives for improving health literacy at the community level.
See individual abstracts for presenting author's disclosure statement and author's information.
Panelist(s):Carol Easley Allen, PhD, RN
Rima E. Rudd, ScD
Lisa Bennett-Garrison
Moderator(s):Ponnuswamy Swamidoss
Barbara DeBuono, MD, MPH
2:30 PMIntroductory Remarks
2:35 PMHealth literacy as a public health issue, Carol Easley-Allen
2:55 PMCommunication challenges within multicultural populations, Anna Rita Velasquez
3:15 PMLiteracy in health contexts: A re-analysis of the NALS,
3:35 PMCalifornia health literacy initiative: Community involvement, Lisa Bennett-Garrison
3:55 PMClosing Remarks, Barbara DeBouno
Organized by:APHA
CE Credits:Health Education (CHES), Pharmacy

The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA