The Florida Health Literacy Initiative: Helping English Language Learners Greg Smith, Director to MakeExecutive Healthy Choices Heather Surrency, Health & Financial Literacy Coordinator Florida Literacy Coalition, Inc. [email protected] [email protected] 407-246-7110 www.floridaliteracy.org Florida Literacy Coalition Established in 1985, The Florida Literacy Coalition (FLC)
promotes, supports and advocates for the effective delivery of quality adult and family literacy services in the state of Florida. FLC provides a range of services to support more than 250 adult education, literacy and family literacy providers throughout Florida. American Medical Association The Health Literacy of Americas Adults National Assessment of Adult Literacy Definition: The degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions. Literacy Health Literacy Below basic
14% 14% Basic 29% 22% Intermediate 44% 53% Proficient 13% 12% Forty nine percent of adults who did not complete high school have below basic health literacy.
Adults 65 and older have lower health literacy than younger age groups. Hispanic adults have lower health literacy than people in any other ethnic/racial group, with 41% having below basic health literacy. People with Poor Health Literacy 1. 2. 3. 4.
5. Are more likely to have a chronic disease Less likely to get the health care they need Have an average of three times as many prescriptions filled as adults with higher literacy Are twice as likely to be hospitalized as those with higher literacy Dont live as long Staying Healthy An English Learners Guide to Health Care and Healthy Living
Staying Healthy Student resource book & teachers guide > Hard copies distributed to 130+ programs > Downloaded over 900,000 times Evidence Based, written at the 5th grade level For low-intermediate level ESOL learners and above Simple, concrete, practical, with lots of images Correlated to CASAS and Florida ESOL Course Standards Funded by the Florida Department of Education Chapter Topics Chapter 1: Health Care Chapter 2: Your Doctor
Chapter 3: Medicines Chapter 4: Nutrition Chapter 5: Chronic Diseases Chapter 6: Staying Healthy Womens Health Topics covered include Menstruation Menopause Breast/female reproductive cancers Pregnancy Sexually Transmitted Infections Domestic abuse 2010: Received the Reads Easy Award from Health Literacy Innovators
Coping with Stress Topics covered include: Bodys reaction to stress Different types of stress Effects of stress on the body Ways to cope with stress Positive self-talk Importance of therapy Staying Healthy For Beginners Download Free www.floridaliteracy.org Supported by: US Dept of Education, LINCS, Florida Dept of Education
Florida Health Literacy Initiative Recipient of the 2011 Award for Program Innovation and Collaboration United States Conference on Adult Literacy Results 7 years of grant support - $805,000 Grants of up to $5,000 15,000+ students and families served Average improvement in HL assessment scores: 35%
Better prepared to address health concerns with doctor: 94% Applied for at least one type of medical insurance (Medicare, Marketplace, Medicaid, Florida KidCare, etc) 23% Began exercising regularly: 41% Changed their eating habits to be more healthful: 54% Recommend program 96% Partnerships are Key
Pediatric Care Institution All Faiths Food Bank American Diabetes Association American Lung Association Americas Urgent Care
Center for Drug Free Living Central Florida Sports & Physical Therapy Community AIDS Network East Lake Chiropractic Fishermans Hospital Florida Blood Centers Florida Hospital Hardee County Health Department Mariners Hospital Florida KidCare
Highlands County Soil and Water Conservation District office. Hispanic Health Initiatives, Inc Manatee Technical Institutes nursing and dental departments
Mariners Hospital Fl State College Nursing Program Osceola County Extension Services Osceola County Fire and Rescue Pinellas Cooperative Extension Agency, Poison Control Center-Tampa South Florida Community Colleges nursing and dental departments University of Florida Vision is PricelessImmokalee Fire Department 2016 Grant Recipients
Adult Literacy League Community Health Centers of Sarasota County DeSoto County Education Foundation El Sol - Jupiter's Neighborhood Resource Center Family Literacy Academy at Lake Wales
Flagler County New Beginnings Family Literacy Lake Worth West Resident Planning Group Learn to Read of St. Johns County Literacy Council of Sarasota Miami Dade College - Hialeah Campus Miami Dade College - InterAmerican Campus Parent Academy of St. Lucie County Sarasota Family YMCA United Food Bank of Plant City William H. Turner Technical Arts Education Center Field Trips and Classroom Visitors
Clinic and hospital guided tours Presentations on ACA and Florida KidCare UF/IFAS County extension services Poison control Doctors, nurses Fire department Exercise class Grocery stores Mock clinic at community health centers Well water testing
Medical, nursing, dental schools Project Based Learning Doctor Song Examples of Student Projects
Health fair, block party, or community bazaar Organize and take Red Cross CPR Class Publish Now We Know: All About our Health booklet Partner with a childrens hospital and the fire dept. to educate about car seats and fire safety Partner with Sheriff department to educate about pedestrian safety Take a trip to the local vocational center to learn about healthrelated career programs Sponsor a Biggest Loser nutrition and weight loss contest Create videos on hand washing and reading medicine label Partner with a local gym to offer free short-term memberships Research project - Health Benefits of Red Wine and Grapes, and Preventing High blood Pressure
Organize a walk to raise funds for cancer research Examples of Student Projects South Florida State College Miami Dade College-InterAmerican Resources Florida Health Literacy Initiative www.floridaliteracy.org MedlinePlus www.medlineplus.gov Ask Me 3 www.npsf.org/askme3 Health & Literacy Special Collection http://healthliteracy.worlded.org Lessons for Living Well: Nutrition Education for
Adult ESOL www.lessonsforlivingwell.org Health Literacy Wisconsin http://healthliteracywisconsin.org
