Adult Education as a Vehicle for Health Communication Open Access
Freedman, Ariela Michal (2011)
Abstract
Health literacy is rapidly gaining attention in health education
interventions, yet
most still consider it to be an issue only for poor readers.
Instead, health literacy should
be seen as the dynamic intersection of the environment, the demands
of the task, and the
individual's skills and emotional state. Through this lens,
everyone experiences health
literacy challenges at some point. Thus, considering health
education as health literacy
education may help
increase the effectiveness of future interventions. Further, while
most
health education interventions apply a scientific approach to
selection and use of behavior
change theories, little attention is paid to how individuals learn
new information and
skills.
The first component of this research provides an instructional
foundation for
interventions by integrating cognitive psychology and adult
learning theory to explain
how individuals acquire functional health literacy skills (the
basic health-related skills
needed for daily living activities in order to ensure personal
health). The integration of
these disciplines focuses on the importance of classroom
environment and educational
strategies.
The second component uses a qualitative case study example based on
classroom
observations and interviews with students and teachers in an
Atlanta-area adult education
center's health literacy class. This case study applies the
theories described in component
one to describe how students acquire functional health literacy
skills, such as reading
food labels or medication instructions. Results describe students'
resulting health
behavior changes, including improving nutrition, increasing
physical activity, and
increasing medication adherence. Results also describe how the
classroom experience
motivates students to function as lay health advisors by sharing
information and skills
with loved ones outside the classroom.
Ultimately, this study suggests that functional health literacy
skills are the
foundation of behavior change interventions. This study also
demonstrates how the field
of health education can benefit by looking to cognitive psychology
and adult education to
provide a rigorous instructional foundation for future intervention
development. Finally,
this study demonstrates that the skills learned in adult education
classes may reach far
beyond the walls of the classroom, thus making adult education a
powerful
communication vehicle for reaching low literate adults with
critical functional health
literacy skills.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1: Introductory Literature Review
Defining Health Literacy
1
The Connection Between Health and Literacy
2
Scope of the Low Health Literacy Problem
3
Communicating Health Information to Low Literate Populations
3
Adult Education: Teaching Practical Skills to Low Literate
Adults
5
Adult Learning Theory
6
Adult Education as a Vehicle for Health Communication with
Low Literate Adults
9
Cognitive Psychology Adding Depth to Understanding Health
Literacy
Skill Adoption
12
Diffusion of Innovations: A Framework to Understand Skill
Adoption
18
Diffusion of Information and Skills
20
Description of Case Study Context and Participants
22
Aims of Current Research
24
Implications and Innovations of Proposed Research
26
Connection Between Subsequent Chapters
27
References
29
CHAPTER 2: Health Education is Health Literacy: Maximizing the
impact
of health education interventions by focusing on how individuals
acquire
skills for behavior change
Abstract
35
Introduction
36
Health Literacy
38
Cognitive Psychology
40
Adult Learning Theory
44
Integration of Cognitive Psychology and Adult Learning Theory
in
Behavior Change Interventions
45
Conclusion
55
References
56
CHAPTER 3: Better Learning Through Instructional Science: A
health
literacy case study in "how to teach so learners can learn"
Abstract
60
Introduction
61
Methods
66
Results
68
Discussion
81
References
84
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