Chervin Cara, Clift Joseph, Woods Lakeesha, Krause Elizabeth, Lee Kien
Grantmakers In Health, Washington, DC, USA.
Health Promot Pract. 2012 Nov;13(6):738-46. doi: 10.1177/1524839912437367. Epub 2012 Jul 3.
Incorporating health literacy in adult education instruction is a promising approach to increasing the health equity of people who face racial/ethnic health disparities. Six adult education centers throughout a small Northeast state received 1-year Health Literacy Project grants from a local foundation to increase their capacity to teach health literacy through Study Circles. The evaluation of the project assessed changes in adult learners' skills needed to navigate health systems, manage chronic diseases, and engage in preventive behavior; learners' self-efficacy; and how the education centers increased their capacity to teach health literacy skills to adult learners of color. Quantitative and qualitative data indicated that students' knowledge about health issues and self-efficacy increased significantly as a result of the health literacy instruction. All six centers improved their capacity to teach health literacy. By the end of the Health Literacy Project, almost three quarters of classes included health literacy instruction. Almost half of the Study Circle teachers continued to attend professional development activities for health literacy and share their knowledge with other teachers. Each center also developed partnerships with health care providers and created an infrastructure to continue to teach health literacy. Implications of the identified strengths and challenges on future efforts to increase health literacy and equity are considered.
将健康素养纳入成人教育教学是提高面临种族/族裔健康差异人群健康公平性的一种有前景的方法。美国东北部一个小州的六个成人教育中心获得了当地一家基金会为期一年的健康素养项目资助，以提高其通过学习小组教授健康素养的能力。该项目的评估评估了成年学习者在应对医疗系统、管理慢性病和采取预防行为方面所需技能的变化；学习者的自我效能感；以及教育中心如何提高其向有色人种成年学习者教授健康素养技能的能力。定量和定性数据表明，由于健康素养教学，学生对健康问题的知识和自我效能感显著提高。所有六个中心都提高了教授健康素养的能力。到健康素养项目结束时，近四分之三的课程包括健康素养教学。近一半的学习小组教师继续参加健康素养专业发展活动，并与其他教师分享他们的知识。每个中心还与医疗服务提供者建立了合作伙伴关系，并创建了一个基础设施以继续教授健康素养。文中考虑了已确定的优势和挑战对未来提高健康素养和公平性努力的影响。
