We are fortunate here in Wisconsin to have Dr. Paul Smith from the
University of Wisconsin Family Medicine program be a very active board
member of our statewide membership organization of literacy councils,
Wisconsin Literacy. Paul helped form an official standing committee of the
board for health literacy and in 2004 organized our first Health Literacy
Summit  that brought together adult education providers with a variety of
health care providers to begin the process of raising awareness and
discussions about collaborative possibilities for addressing health literacy
issues in Wisconsin.

This past June, over 250 adult educators, legislators, health care providers
and others attended Wisconsin Literacy's 2nd Health Literacy Summit. This
well attended summit, not only brought together literacy and health care,
but moved beyond this meeting to forming four regional health literacy
committees. These regional committees are comprised of representatives of
hospitals, clinics, literacy councils, technical colleges, Area Health
Education Centers, public health, media and insurance among others. They
have been meeting to develop surveys of current health literacy activities,
ways to raise awareness in their regions about health literacy and
intervention plans for each region. 

We are waiting to hear about funding applications that will support numerous
other projects such as forming a statewide steering committee that includes
learners and other stakeholders to help oversee the regional committees and
bring a cohesive message and plan to Wisconsin and a project that will
develop a model for hospitals to collaborate with literacy councils to
develop low level learner panels to guide the improvement of the health
literacy environment of hospitals in Wisconsin. These efforts are extensions
of a research project done by Dr. Smith with focus groups of low level
learners that identified barriers to health care.

We are very excited that Wisconsin has developed some important partnerships
for addressing a huge and widespread issue of health literacy. The
challenges we all face in trying to improve the health literacy of all
people is the huge scope of the issue. Our hope is that by trying to address
needs through regional efforts, we will be able to look at the unique needs
that each partnership brings to the table. We are trying to build an
infastructure that will work toward improving the health literacy levels of
all portions of Wisconsin by using regional committees. Perhaps the most
exciting piece of this approach has been the bi-partisan support we have
seen from all stakeholders. The issue of health literacy is common to all
and rises above local political partisanism.

We will be happy to share our efforts as we move forward in the new year.
Our first year of our regional efforts has been one of planning and
information gathering that is intended to move forward into action plans as
we progress. For more information, feel free to visit our website:
wisconsinliteracy.org. 

Without a doubt, collaboration and partnership is the key to addressing this
issue that crosses into so many businesses, services and lives. By having
literacy councils as one of the major players at the table, you bring with
you access to a population that is in the high risk category for health
literacy, but has committed to improving and working toward improving their
risk factors. Who better to help us, help them?

Margarete Cook
Northwest Regional Literacy Consultant
Wisconsin Literacy
http:wisconsinliteracy.org
  

-----Original Message-----
From: healthliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:healthliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Andrew Pleasant
Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2007 9:21 PM
To: The Health and Literacy Discussion List
Subject: [JStarNet Spam Filter] [HealthLiteracy 1581] Re: Ideas for
collaboration between adultliteracy and health communities

Hi Cindy et al. (geez, I was trying to stay off the list for a bit ...sorry)

Agreed  ... very nice meeting indeed. One unfortunate observation is that so
few people (1-2 at most I think) attended both this and the American College
of Physicians health literacy conference held just down the street a week
earlier. I hope that will change in the future.

It wasn't Lynn Nielsen, but Paul Smith of Wisconsin who as part of his quite
interesting talk delivered the report from a study (not his
own) that folks learned faster when using health materials. Does anyone
happen to know the original source of that data?

And regarding the curricula (replying to Barbara's et al. last questions in
particular) ... do send them still. Many emails on the topic, but only a
couple with curricula attached.

Best,

Andrew




>Content-type: multipart/alternative;

>  boundary="Boundary_(ID_h6PjJGzlfXDQtRq+UlrJJw)"

>Content-class: urn:content-classes:message

>

>Last week I attended the National Coalition for Literacy's policy 

>forum, "Health Literacy: Dual Problem, Dual Solution."

>Unfortunately, I had to leave before the breakout groups that 

>brainstormed ideas for collaboration between the adult literacy and 

>health communities met. I thought I would use this listserv to profile 

>a couple of examples of successful collaboration.

>

>In Iowa there is a four-year collaboration between the Iowa Health 

>System and the New Readers of Iowa. I had the privilege to attend their 

>joint conference last spring 

>(<http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/The_Iowa_New_Readers_of_Iowa_Coali

tion_Conference:_Building_Health_Literacy_Leaders>http://wiki.literacytent.o
rg/index.php/The_Iowa_New_Readers_of_Iowa_Coalition_Conference:_Building_Hea
lth_Literacy_Leaders).

>New Readers shared experiences about what it was like for them when 

>they accessed the health system. New Readers also reported the ease of 

>way-finding when they conducted a facility walk-through. Health 

>professionals participating in a Health Literacy Collaborative 

>described getting input from New Readers when simplifying their 

>informed consent forms. Pharmacy students conducted brown bag 

>medication reviews for New Readers. Health Professionals practiced 

>health communication skills with New Readers in role playing exercises 

>(e.g., giving patient discharge instructions). Mary Ann Abrams (Iowa 

>Health System) and Archie Willard (New Readers of Iowa) deserve a huge 

>amount of credit for their joint undertakings.

>

>In New York City community-based literacy programs and health providers 

>have created health literacy partnerships. Elyse Barbell Rudolph, of 

>NY's Literacy Assistance Center, is one of the powerful forces behind 

>this collaboration. The literacy programs implemented Rima Rudd's 

>Health Literacy Study Circles 

>(<file://www.hsph.harvard.edu/healthliteracy/curricula.html>www.hsph.ha

>rvard.edu/healthliteracy/curricula.html),

>resulting in 20% of class time being devoted to health literacy topics. 

>Health educators and administrators visited classes, and hosted field 

>trips to facilities. Health providers also educated their staff about 

>health literacy. A speaker at the NCL policy forum (was it Dr. Lynn 

>Nielsen??) mentioned research indicating that adult learners who study 

>health topics learn faster than those studying other topics.

>

>I hope those working on the local level will take inspiration from 

>these examples and share some of their own.

>

>Cindy Brach

>Center for Delivery, Organization, and Markets Agency for Healthcare 

>Research and Quality 540 Gaither Road Rockville, MD  20850

>phone: 301-427-1444

>fax: (301) 427-1430

>Cindy.Brach at ahrq.hhs.gov

>

>

>----------------------------------------------------

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>Email delivered to pleasant at aesop.rutgers.edu



--
-----------------------------------------------
Andrew Pleasant
Assistant Professor
Department of Human Ecology
Extension Department of Family and Community Health Sciences Rutgers, the
State University of New Jersey Cook Office Building, 55 Dudley Road #207 New
Brunswick, NJ 08901
phone: 732-932-9153 x. 320; fax: 732-932-6667
----------------------------------------------------
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