Health Literacy Summit
Indianapolis, IN
Holiday Inn Select
2501 South High School Road,
Indianapolis, IN
March 25-26, 2008
Health literacy is often defined as the ability to read, understand, and act upon health-related information. Improving health literacy may improve the health status and quality of life of America's adults, especially among adults with marginal literacy skills. Join adult educators, health care workers, and others interested in health literacy to find out about the research on health literacy and some resources for implementing health literacy programming.
Hosted by: National Institute for Literacy and its LINCS Region I Resource Center World Education and Ohio Literacy Resource Center in partnership with Indiana Department of Education/Division of Adult Education
Summit Schedule
Day 1 - Tuesday, March 25, 2008
| 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. | Registration |
| 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. | Opening Session Health Literacy: A Clinician's Point of View Paul Smith, MD, Department of Family Medicine, University of Wisconsin, WI Based on the results of the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy, only 12 percent of adults have Proficient health literacy. There are a variety of social determinants of health, but literacy seems to be the strongest predictor of health status. Research has shown that people with low health literacy have less health knowledge, poorer health status, higher mortality, an increased frequency of hospitalizations and it costs more for their medical care. The speaker will discuss a multifaceted approach to begin to address the problems associated with low health literacy. |
| 2:15 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. | Breakout Sessions Research on the Health Information Seeking Behaviors of Older Adults Mary Stansbury, Ph.D., Library Science, Kent State University, OH Ruth Ludwick, Ph.D., CNS, RN, Professor, Kent State University, OH Dianna Baycich, Ph.D., Literacy Projects Coordinator, Kent State University, OH Presenters will discuss health information seeking behavior and the results of a research study they conducted which identified ways older adults prefer to receive their health information. Presenters will also discuss the process used to write the materials for the participants in the study and the critical nature of interdisciplinary work in the area of health literacy. Teaching and Learning about Health in Adult Basic Education Marcia Drew Hohn, Ph.D., Immigrant Learning Center, MA Saiyi Diaz and Vanda Ivanenko, Student Health Teams, MA Come learn about the principles and practices for effective health education in adult basic education and reduce your stress at the same time! Marcia Drew Hohn and former members of the Operation Bootstrap Student Action Health Team will lead you through a stress reduction program based on research-based learning from a two-year participatory action research study. Design, approaches, and methods used in the stress reduction program developed with a Student Health Team will be explained as we move through the program. Approaches and activities to get Student Health Teams started at your program will also be covered. Come have fun, relax and learn! Limit of 20. |
| 3:45 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. | Breakout Session Testing Impact of Health Literacy Susan Levy, Ph.D., FASHA, Professor Emerita of Public Health and Education, University of Illinois at Chicago, IL This presentation will highlight the development and execution of the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, Department of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Education, and the National Institute for Literacy-funded, five-year research project. The project is a randomized, controlled experiment testing the relative superiority of different curricular and teaching approaches on adult literacy and health literacy. Curricular highlights and strategies will be shown, literacy and health literacy results presented, and ongoing analyses, policy implications and lessons learned will be discussed. Caregiving: How Can We Help? Steve Quann, M. Ed., World Education, MA Health literacy in the classroom often means covering basic information about illnesses. But what about help for those looking after family or friends? Project Care is a website that lets high-intermediate to advanced English language learners practice English from the perspective of caregivers. The presenter will discuss strategies for project-based learning and the value of case studies, multimedia, and group work in engaging learners and constructing knowledge. |
Day 2 - Wednesday, March 26, 2008
| 9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. |
Panel Discussion of Statewide Initiatives Michele Erikson, Wisconsin Literacy, Inc., WI Lori Quaranta, Rhode Island Health Literacy Project, RI Winston Lawrence, Literacy Assistance Center, NY Matt McGarvey, The Wellmark Foundation, IA |
| 10:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. | Roundtables by State/Region |
| 11:15 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | Breakout Sessions Ask Me 3: Three Questions for Better Health Jane Walker, Ph.D., RN, School of Nursing, Purdue University Calumet, IN |
| 12:45 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. | Lunch and Closing Session Advancing Health Literacy: Building Bridges Andrew Pleasant, Ph.D., Department of Human Ecology, Rutgers University, NJ While attempting to reflect on and summarize conference proceedings, this session will explore the challenges and potential benefits of forming collaborative projects focusing on health literacy. |