Introducing A Health Literacy Curriculum for Beginning Level

Introducing… A Health Literacy Curriculum for Beginning Level ABE Students Health Literacy Summit – San Francisco 2/28/2008

Why Health Literacy? Adults with low literacy • more likely to report poor health status • have difficulty understanding prescription and other medical instructions • receive incorrect diagnoses due to limited ability to communicate with health care provider • experience annual healthcare costs four times higher than those with higher health literacy • cost the health care system as much as $73 billion per year (AMA Foundation, 2006)

Background Original Research Project Funded by: • National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) • U. S. Department of Education (OVAE) • National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) • Funding Term: October, 2002 – August, 2007

Susan R. Levy, Ph. D Principal Investigator Institute for Health Research and Policy, Univ. of Illinois, Chicago

7 Different Levels Health content is basically equivalent across levels (different activities foster different skills) • ABE Beginning • ABE Intermediate • ABE Advanced • ABE Secondary • ESOL Beginning • ESOL Intermediate • ESOL Advanced

Project Summary Ultimate Goal: • Health Literacy Curriculum will simultaneously improve general adult literacy skills as well as improve health-related knowledge, self efficacy, and potentially, health-promoting behaviors

Health Literacy Assessment Sample ? s • What are over-thecounter drugs? • What does a balanced diet mean? A. Drugs you don’t need a prescription for B. Drugs that are safe for everyone C. Drugs you can only get at a hospital D. Drugs that have no warning labels A. Eating three meals a day. B. Eating no more than two snacks a day C. Eating moderate amounts of food D. Eating food from the six major food groups

Health Literacy Assessment Samples • How likely are you to tell your doctor about diseases in your family? • How likely are you to make a dental appointment in the next six months? Very Unlikely Very Likely 1 2 3 4 5 6

Health Literacy Assessment Samples • How confident are you that you can follow the directions on over-thecounter medications? • How confident are you that you can talk with your physician about an embarrassing problem? Not at all confident Very confident 1 2 3 4 5 6

ABE Beginning Level Curriculum 18 Sections – content covered: • Health Professionals • Emergency Care • Self-care & Preventive Care • Physical Activity & Good Nutrition • Making and Keeping Appointments • Talking to Health Professionals • Medical tests and other follow-up care instructions • Medical History Forms • Medications – drug groups, warnings, dosage & directions • Paying for Health Services

ABE Beginning Level Curriculum “Anatomy” Each of the 18 Sections contains 3 On-line Folders 1. Basic Skills & Vocabulary 2. Reading & Comprehension 3. Supplemental Activities

Section 3 – Emergency Care 1. Basic Skills & Vocabulary Supply the missing “beat”: 2. Reading & Comprehension e- -gen-cy 3. Supplemental Activities Ty- -nol e-mer-gen. Ty-le- -mer-gen-cy -le-nol

Section 3 – Emergency Care 1. Basic Skills & Vocabulary 2. Reading & Comprehension 3. Supplemental Activities Emergency or Not? Sondra’s 9 -year old son Ted, was playing baseball. A fast ball hit Ted on the side of his head. Ted fell to the ground. He did not move. Sondra ran to him. When she got there, Ted opened his eyes. He sat up. Soon, a large bruise formed on his head. Sondra took Ted home right away. She gave him two children’s Tylenol. She put an ice pack on the side of his head. In about 15 minutes, Ted said, “I feel tired. I want to go to sleep. ”

Section 3 – Emergency Care 1. Basic Skills & Vocabulary Language Experience Story 2. Reading & Comprehension 1. 2. 3. Supplemental Activities 3. 4.

Section 7 – Making Appointments 1. Basic Skills & Vocabulary appointment 2. Reading & Comprehension 3. Supplemental Activities See you in 6 months! preventive checkup

Section 7 – Making Appointments 1. Basic Skills & Vocabulary 2. Reading & Comprehension 3. Supplemental Activities To make good health decisions, you need to know how to make and keep an appointment with a health professional. If you want to see a health professional, you might have to make an appointment. When you have an appointment, the health professional knows you are coming and will have time to see you. If you can’t keep your appointment, then you should call right away. Health professionals want to know if you are not coming in. Sometimes you don’t have to make an appointment. Some clinics let patients walk in and wait to see the health professional.

Section 7 – Making Appointments 1. Basic Skills & Vocabulary Circle the correct abbreviation for the day you hear. 2. Reading & Comprehension 1. 2. 3. 4. 3. Supplemental Activities Write an abbreviation for the day you hear. 1. 2. 3. 4. Thu. Sun. WD Mun. TH S Wed. Mon. Tues. SA M W

Section 7 – Making Appointments 1. Basic Skills & Vocabulary 2. Reading & Comprehension 3. Supplemental Activities Say the month name. 1. 2. 3. 4. Feb. 4 Oct. 7 Read the appointment time. 1. 2. 3. 4. Mon. 7/13/08, 3: 15 p. m. Sat. Sept. 25, 10: 30 a. m. Tues. 2 -9 2009, 8: 45 a. m. F Apr. 5, 2008 - 1: 00 p. m.

Section 8 –Talking to Health Professionals 1. Basic Skills & Vocabulary 2. Reading & Comprehension 3. Supplemental Activities From Beginner Story • • do any other walk know was your

Section 8 –Talking to Health Professionals 1. Basic Skills & Vocabulary Deb is talking to a nurse practitioner. She has a terrible ache in her back. She thinks she hurt it in a yoga class a few days ago. 2. Reading & Comprehension “Do you have any other symptoms? ” asked Tom. “Well, today I feel weak. I can hardly walk. ” 3. Supplemental Activities “How about a fever? ” asked Tom. “I don’t know, ” said Deb. “I was sweating a lot last night. ” Tom asked, “Do you have any pain when you go to the bathroom? And have you noticed any change in your urine? ”

Section 8 –Talking to Health Professionals 1. Basic Skills & Vocabulary 2. Reading & Comprehension Deb felt embarrassed. For the past few days she had felt a little burning when she went to the bathroom. Her urine looked cloudy. It had a bad smell. She told Tom all of this. “OK, Deb. I need you to give a urine sample. ” “How come I have to pee in a jar? ” she asked. 3. Supplemental Activities “Good question. You see, I don’t think you hurt your back in yoga, Deb. It’s a good thing you told me about ALL of your symptoms. I think you might have a kidney infection. ” “A kidney infection? ” cried Deb. “Yes. If so, we need to treat it right away.

Section 8 –Talking to Health Professionals 1. Basic Skills & Vocabulary Circle the correct symptom/health problem. 1. a. earache b. fever c. runny nose 2. a. sore throat b. dizzy c. chills 3. a. diarrhea b. painful urination c. sore throat 2. Reading & Comprehension 3. Supplemental Activities

Section 11– After a Health Care Visit 1. Basic Skills & Vocabulary Clap the “beats” 2 syllables 3 syllables 4 syllables 2. Reading & Comprehension refer injury orthopedist 3. Supplemental Activities results ligament professional

Section 11– After a Health Care Visit 1. Basic Skills & Vocabulary 2. Reading & Comprehension 3. Supplemental Activities Supplemental Vocabulary (words which may come up in oral discussions or other activities) diagnostic–to identify and find out the nature of a disease ligament - a band of cord-like tissue that connects bones together MRI a diagnostic test that provides pictures of the soft tissue in the body

Section 11– After a Health Care Visit 1. Basic Skills & Vocabulary 2. Reading & Comprehension 3. Supplemental Activities “Call this number as soon as you get home to set up your MRI appointment. The test is done at the hospital. I am also going to refer you to an orthopedist, Dr. Hopedale is very good with knee injury cases. It will take a few days for his office to get the referral paperwork. Call him three days from today to make an appointment. Your MRI results will be sent right to him. He will need them before he sees you. Usually they try to get you in a few days after your MRI. ”

Section 11– After a Health Care Visit 1. Basic Skills & Vocabulary TRUE or FALSE 2. Reading & Comprehension Jose should call in three days to set up his MRI. 3. Supplemental Activities Jose will go to his doctor’s office to get an MRI. Jose needs to take his MRI results with him to the orthopedist. Jose should call the orthopedist’s office right away. Jose should know when his MRI appointment is before he calls the orthopedist’s office.

Section 16 – Other Drugs 1. Basic Skills & Base Word + er Base Word + est harder Vocabulary 2. Reading & Comprehension 3. Supplemental Activities safe healthy happy hardest

Section 16 – Other Drugs 1. Basic Skills & Vocabulary 2. Reading & Comprehension 3. Supplemental Activities “I want a n mal, healthy baby, ” said Toni. “Of course you do!” said Dr. Rashid. “Good! There are people who can hel you to make changes in your life. A lot of people need some extra supp t to quit these things. ” “I think I might need some elp, ” said Toni. “I’ve tried to quit smoking and drinking before, but it was too h d. ” “I un stand. Most people have to try more than one time to quit. But now you have the best reason ever to do it!”

Section 16 – Other Drugs 1. Basic Skills & Vocabulary 2. Reading & Comprehension 3. Supplemental Activities Moderate? Not Moderate?

Field Testing New Instructor Manual and updated Curriculum are being field tested by Literacy Action Inc. , Atlanta, GA

Systematic Phonics: Mini-demonstration Mini-clips inserted throughout on-line Instructor Manual • Vocabulary practice • Multi-sensory sight words • Systematic phonics • Guided Reading/Comp • Beginner Writing Play Clip #5: Systematic Phonics Instruction word analysis and scooping multi-syllable words. Literacy Solutions’ DVDs: “Tutoring Techniques”

What’s next? Adult Literacy Instructors soon will be able to • download Instructor Manual for ABE Beginning Level, including Literacy Solutions’ demo video clips • download Health Literacy Assessment • select and download content from ABE Beginning Level Health Literacy Curriculum (Sections 1 -18) • access links to other resources Look for it this fall at www. nifl. gov

Questions? For more information or training opportunities, contact Meg Schofield megschofield@yahoo. com (808) 651 -1753 Thank you!