Literacy Health

Literacy and Health: 

Literacy and Health Dorothy E. Hickey MA MPH RN Clinical Nurse Specialist & Literacy Tutor

Background : 

Background A large share of people in Sub-Saharan Africa are poor, living on below one dollar a day. The life expectancy of South African people has decreased in the last ten years. (2005 South Africa Statistics) HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis are major public health epidemics in South Africa.

Background (continued): 

Background (continued) About 2.9 to 4.2 million people in South Africa have had no schooling at all. (Centre for Adult Education University of KwaZulu-Natal 2004) More than 9 million adults in South Africa are illiterate. (Operation Upgrade of South Africa, a non-profit organization working with adult literacy and adult basic education for social change, Durban, South Africa)

Presentation : 

Presentation Goals: To offer definitions of literacy and health. To explore the relationship of literacy, poverty and health. To identify programs addressing illiteracy in South Africa. To suggest ways for the library to address illiteracy in the community. To list some resources for librarians participating in a community outreach.

Literacy: 

Literacy Definition: “An individual’s ability to read, write and speak in English* and compute and solve problems necessary to function in society, to achieve one’s goals and develop one’s knowledge and potential”. (USA National Literacy Act 1991) *..”or in their own language, or in the language of the local economy-be it English or Afrikaans”. (Operation Upgrade of South Africa)

Slide6: 

It is difficult to separate our daily uses of literacy into neat components. In real life, “literacy” is natural and free-flowing. Language is an integrated whole. Think of the things you’ve done over the past 24 hours which have involved reading: writing, listening, speaking.

Slide7: 

Historically literacy has been defined by culture in different ways: ability to sign one’s own name, ability to read by age 9 or 10 or completion of basic education. Some place the emphasis on reading, some define it as “spelling” or “sounding words”. ProLiteracy advocates that “literacy instruction be viewed as involving all language components: listening, speaking, reading and writing mediated through thought.”

Views on Reading: 

Views on Reading Everyone seems to agree that the ultimate purpose of reading is to arrive at meaning. However, there can be at least three different basic views of learning to read, each of which place a different emphasis on the role of meaning. Learning to read means learning: View 1 to pronounce words View 2 to identify word and get their meanings View 3 to bring meaning to a text in order to get meaning from it. The latter is an active process that involves using all that people know about the world and their own language to make sense of new information, it incorporates the other two views.

Health & Literacy: 

Health & Literacy Health.. One suggested definition…”More than the absence of illness and disease, to be ‘healthy’ is for a person to be all they can be physically and emotionally”. Studies show that literacy is a key determinant of health.

Literacy, Poverty & Health : 

Literacy, Poverty & Health Low literacy, poverty and health problems are interrelated in many ways: Literacy barriers limit peoples’ opportunity to have control over their lives and to make informed choices Low literacy affects peoples’ access to work and adequate income. Poverty and low literacy affect nutrition, mental health and ability to prevent illness. Low literacy makes it difficult for parents to access information to nurture their children’s learning in school, thereby continuing the cycle.

Slide11: 

Low literacy affects access to health services and information: People with lower literacy skills have trouble reading and understanding health information Less literate people may not have background health knowledge to understand instructions People with low literacy may not know about the services available to them. They often are intimidated in relation to health professionals and institutions.

Slide12: 

Poor health and poverty are barriers to learning and literacy for children and adults People with low literacy have poorer overall health Low literacy leads to misuse of medication or misunderstanding of health Less literate people often wait longer to seek medical help so health problems reach a crisis state From Movement for Canadian Literacy, “Literacy is for life!”

Addressing Illiteracy in South Africa: 

Addressing Illiteracy in South Africa Operation Upgrade of South Africa 69 Krishna Road Briardene Durban PO Box 371, Hyper-by-the-Sea 4053 Tel 031-579-4374 Government ABET (Adult Basic Education) Thoko Bhedla Tel 031-274-4157

Slide14: 

Millennium Development Goals 2015 Health Literacy Month – October 1 – 31, 2005 www.healthliteracy.com/hlmonth New Readers Publishers Catalogue www.nrp.und.ac.za