Marg,
Thanks for your excellent list of resources! Canada is doing some great work in health literacy. Your list shows that many resources exist, and I agree that what needs to happen is that a critical mass realizes the importance of attending to the issue of health literacy and starts using those resources. I think that this critical mass needs to involve health care professionals, including providers, administrators and policy makers. It also needs to involve the adult education field along with others who are committed to advocating for the underserved populations. These polulations include those with low literacy and English skills, which are often those without health insurance and in greater need of health information and preventive care. This is why collaboration between health and literacy practitioners makes so much sense.

I do think that family literacy is a great way into this type of collaboration because parents of young children are saturated with daily health care needs, and are thus motivated to succeed in their literacy improvement by the hope of tending to their families' health needs by being more informed and better able to communicate.

Thanks again for contributing this information!

Julie

Julie McKinney
Discussion List Moderator
World Education/NCSALL
jmckinney at worlded.org


>>> "Marg Rose" <bcmrose at telus.net> 12/20/06 4:06 PM >>>

Loved your web page reference. IT's full of concrete ideas, and respects
where people are, embedded in their own references. Most adult literacy
programs in Canada are slanted to employment-related outcomes, since federal
funding for projects is from Human Resources and Skill development, likely.
Family literacy seems to offer more range for collaboration with health
professionals, do you find?

I prepared a similar encouraging list of resources for collaboration for
literacy and health care providers (see attached) and presented it at a
summer institute here and at a national literacy summit in Quebec City in
October.. Many of you will find your wonderful work championed. Keep it up!
A health literacy movement will depend on reaching a critical mass of voices
speaking out and resources being allocated to this promising work.

Marg Rose, Victoria, BC