The University of Illinois at Chicago's Health Research and Policy Centers have received a five-year, $2.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the effectiveness of adult literacy programs. Using a health curriculum, the study aims to enhance both adult literacy and an understanding of health related issues, which will contribute significantly to scientific research in this area where gaps currently exist.
The study will compare two approaches to adult literacy: the traditional program, which focuses strictly on adult learners, and an integrated family approach, which involves parents and children in the learning process. Both types of literacy programs will use separate but equivalent health content courses.
UIC has partnered with the Adult Learning Resource Center of Des Plaines, Ill., and OER Associates of Wilmette, Ill., to conduct the research that will include more than 4,000 participants selected from 53 sites in Illinois.
"Because health is so important to everyone and literacy is a major obstacle for millions of adults, the interaction of the two is something that we hope adult learners will find compelling and interesting," said Susan Levy, director of the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Center at the UIC Health Research and Policy Centers and principal investigator of the study.
"I hope this study will help to eliminate health disparities, particularly among senior citizens, minorities and people with lower incomes who are at greatest risk," Levy said.
While much is known about effective instructional reading methods for schoolchildren, very little research exists on literacy interventions for adult learners. Many factors complicate the study of adult literacy skills, such as differences between native English speakers and those who speak English as a second language.
According to the most recent National Adult Literacy Survey conducted in 1992, more than 40 million U.S. adults, or approximately 21 to 23 percent, were functionally illiterate. About 50 million U.S. adults, or an additional 25 to 28 percent, were low-literate.
Existing research suggests a strong relationship between low literacy and poor health status. Low-literate patients may not understand their medical conditions and treatment, and may also have an increased risk of hospitalization.
The American Medical Association became the first national medical organization to adopt a policy recognizing that low health literacy -- the ability to read, understand and act on health care information -- contributes to poor health outcomes. With more than half of all adults struggling to understand basic health care information, such as prescription instructions, test results and insurance forms, the AMA recognized that low health literacy costs the health care system billions of dollars each year.
For more information about UIC, visit www.uic.edu
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