Literacy and health collaborations

From: Plnenglish@aol.com
Date: Sat Apr 07 2001 - 14:22:18 EDT


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From: Plnenglish@aol.com
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Date: Sat, 7 Apr 2001 14:22:18 EDT
Subject: Literacy and health collaborations
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Dear NIFL-Health, 
Barb Van Horn wrote: <<<I also notice that some health professionals have the 
impression that the adult basic and literacy education system has limited 
value because programs serve a small percentage of adults in need of literacy 
services -- and because it's perceived that adults attend these for very 
short periods of time. 
Therefore, why should health professionals bother working with them...>>>

Barb, the statistics I've read indicate that only 8-10% of all eligible 
adults actually enroll in adult basic education (ABE) programs. And the 
statistics on completion are quite discouraging. I worked in ABE and literacy 
for many years but have been focusing mostly on health literacy since 1994. 
Are there new stats that show a more encouraging picture? I don't think we 
can convince health care providers that their impressions are wrong with the 
data I'm thinking of. 

Audrey Riffenburgh, MA
President, Riffenburgh and Associates
Specialists in Health Literacy and Plain Language 
1606 Central SE Suite 201
Albuquerque, NM  87106    USA 
Phone: 505-242-5808
Fax: 505-246-9164
E-mail: plnenglish@aol.com 

"You can't do much about the length of your life, but you can do something 
about its depth and breadth."  Evan Esar



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