Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #112480

Augustine Agho, PhD, School of Health Professions and Studies, The University of Michigan-Flint, 303 East Kearsley Street, Flint, MI 48502-1950, Lucinda M. Deason, PhD, Department of Public Administration & Urban Studies, University of Akron, 265 Polsky, Akron, OH 44325-7904, 330-972-7482, Deason@uakron.edu, and MaryAnn Gregor, DrPH, Urban Health and Wellness Center, University of Michigan-Flint, 303 East Kearsley Street, Flint, MI 48502-1950.

In the context of health, health literacy constitutes a constellation of skills that facilitate the ability to perform basic reading and numerical tasks for functioning in the healthcare environment and acting on health care information. Low health literacy has been associated with poor understanding of written or spoken medical advice and adverse health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to explore and assess the health literacy of low-income African Americans in an urban environment in relation to their knowledge of nutrition guidelines. Surveys were administered to participants to assess their health literacy. The survey was based on a health literacy tool that was developed to detect inadequate or marginal health literacy among an adult population. Copies of the survey instrument were given to the participants. In addition, the survey questions were displayed on an overhead projector and read to the participants in order to assist them with completing the survey. The target population was African Americans that were patients at an urban, federally qualified health center. The USDA nutritional guidelines assume that the average citizen has the required ability to read and understand the daily recommended dietary intake. The study will contribute to the overall understanding of 1) the problem of health literacy among low-income African Americans, 2) the ability of people with low or marginal health literacy to read and understand nutritional guidelines, and 3) the extent to which low-income African Americans consume the recommended daily intake of vegetables/fruits, grains, and meat/proteins.

Learning Objectives:

• To assess the health literacy level of low-income African American patients at a federally qualified health center.
• To assess patients' knowledge about nutritional guidelines.

Keywords: Health Literacy, African American

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.