Reducing Environmental Health Disparities through Adult Basic Education

Addressing health literacy needs of populations affected by environmental health concerns advances their ability to exert leadership to affect policies and be part of the solution. Yet as environmental and public health practitioners who strive to engage the public in promoting healthy individuals and communities, we face the challenge of effectively conveying complex information to lay audiences. Exacerbating this challenge is the fact that more than 40% of U.S. adults lack even basic literacy skills, let alone detailed environmental health knowledge. A 2012 study in the Journal of Asthma concluded that health literacy seems an overlooked factor explaining racial and ethnic disparities in asthma. Widespread availability of structured Adult Basic Education (ABE) programs for persons with limited proficiency provides an opportunity. ABE classes offer a supportive environment for adults to work together to plan, test, implement, and evaluate interventions in their own homes and communities to improve environmental health. The ABE system nationwide is well positioned to be an active partner in helping to reduce health disparities among ABE learners. In 2005, ABE programs served over 2.5 million students.

Participants in this session will explore newly created lessons on asthma designed specifically for use in ABE classrooms. Basic principles in creating low-literacy health resources will be presented along with models for establishing successful partnerships with ABE classrooms. The session will share the approach and evaluation findings from an initiative conducted by the JSI Research & Training Institute with funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.