Working with Libraries, Schools & Community Organizations | Health Literacy | CDC

Working with Libraries, Schools & Community Organizations | Health Literacy | CDC

Working with Libraries, Schools & Community Organizations

Health care and adult education communities are natural allies in efforts to improve health literacy.

Early childhood and childcare services, schools, and community groups play a critical role in establishing and building health literacy skills, no matter a person’s age, income, or years of school completed.

Health literacy skills start early in life and are part of the process of caring for and educating children, adolescents and young adults. All children should graduate with health literacy skills that will help them lead healthier lives.

Communities and community resources provide residents with information, education, social support, and local health and social services. Community organizations can determine local needs and incorporate health literacy strategies and activities to contribute to the well-being of community members.

These resources will help you begin or expand your educational and community health literacy activities.

Early Childhood

• Curriculum
  • Health literacy training for Head Start agencies and parents (Source: UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Health Care Institute 2006)
• Early Literacy and Head Start Research
  • Early Head Start Research (HHS Administration for Children & Families - Historical Document)
  • Head Start Research (HHS Administration for Children & Families - Historical Document)
  • Reach Out and Read (Reach Out and Read National Center 2011)
• Research supported by the NIH Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), Child Development and Behavior Branch
  • Early Learning and School Readiness Program (NIH National Institute of Child Health & Human Development 2010)
  • Language, Bilingualism and Biliteracy (NIH National Institute of Child Health & Human Development 2010)
  • Reading, Writing and Related Learning Disabilities Program (NIH National Institute of Child Health & Human Development 2010)

For more information, please review the complete text of Goal 3 [666 KB, 73 Pages] in the National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy. See: Section 3, Goal 3.

K-12 and University

• Curriculum
  • Health Information Literacy Outreach: A Curriculum for Improving Health Information Literacy of 6th Grade Children (Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, 2013)
• Educational Standards and Assessment
  • National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) (National Center for Education Statistics 2010)
  • National Health Education Standards (American Cancer Society 2007)
• Health and Science Education
  • Characteristics of an Effective Health Education Curriculum (CDC Division of Adolescent and School Health 2008)
  • Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (HECAT) (CDC Division of Adolescent and School Health 2009)
  • National Library of Medicine History of Medicine Resources for Teachers and Students (NIH National Library of Medicine 2010)
  • National Institutes of Health Office of Science Education, including curriculum (NIH Office of Science Policy 2011)
  • School Health Index (CDC Division of Adolescent and School Health 2010)

For more information, please review the complete text of Goal 3 [666 KB, 73 Pages] in the National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy. See: Section 3, Goal 3.

Health care and adult education communities are natural allies in efforts to improve health literacy.

Community Educators and Providers

• Adult literacy and health literacy resources (World Education: The Health Literacy Special Collection 2011)
• An English as a Second Language Health and Wellness Curriculum (Expecting the best 2009)
• Health Literacy Curriculum for ESOL learners (Queens Library Adult Learner Program, 2010)
• Health Literacy In Adult Basic Education: Designing Lessons, Units and Evaluation Plans for an Integrated Curriculum (Source: Health Literacy Studies, Harvard School of Public Health 2007)
• Health Literacy Study Circles (National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy 2007)
• Helping Older Adults Search for Health Information Online: A Toolkit for Trainers(NIH Senior Health 2010)
• Literacy Assistance Center Health Literacy Initiative
  The Literacy Assistance Center's New York City Health Literacy Initiative offers a variety of materials to help adult education practitioners and healthcare providers understand and work to improve health literacy.
• Literacy Discussion Lists (Source: LINCS, U.S. Department of Education)
• Refugee Health Information Network (Refugee Health Information Network 2011)
• Research-based Health Literacy Materials and Instruction Guide, Beginning ABE and ESL Levels (National Institute for Literacy 2008)
• Staying Healthy for Beginners: An English Learner's Guide to Health Care and Healthy Living (Teacher's Guide) [504 KB, 54 Pages]
• World Education Health Literacy Special Collection (Source: World Education 2011)
• In It Together- National Health Literacy Project for Black MSM (Source: Health Resources and Services Administration)

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For more information, please review the complete text of Goal 3 [666 KB, 73 Pages] in the National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy. See: Section 3, Goal 3.

Health Care Team

• Wisconsin: How Well Do your Patients Understand: Improving the Health Literacy Environment of Hospitals (Health Literacy Wisconsin 2010)
• Wisconsin: Improving the Health Literacy of Hospitals: A Collaborative Guide for Literacy Organizations (Health Literacy Wisconsin 2010)

Health Information and Library Professionals

• Find a Literacy Program (Source: ProLiteracy)
• Health Literacy Missouri Library (Health Literacy Missouri 2011)
• Health Literacy Studies at the Harvard School of Public Health (Harvard School of Public Health 2011)
• Medical Library Association Health Information Literacy web pages (2011)
• National Library of Medicine Consumer Health Information Specialization Classes (2016)
• National Network of Libraries of Medicine Class on Promoting Health Literacy through Easy-to-Read Materials (Refugee Health Information Network 2011)

Cooperative Extension Service

The U.S. Cooperative Extension System has launched a National Framework for Health and Wellness. The framework aligns with the National Prevention Strategy and includes both health literacy and health insurance literacy as priorities. The Cooperative Extension System is a network of more than 100 of America’s land-grant colleges and universities working with thousands of county and regional Extension offices. The framework is available from the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU).