[NIFL-WOMENLIT:3092] RE: Trends and issues, Women and Literacy

From: alpeters@umich.edu
Date: Thu Dec 09 2004 - 11:42:54 EST


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From: alpeters@umich.edu
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Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:3092] RE: Trends and issues, Women and Literacy
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I think there are some important health and literacy issues to look at in terms
of the demands placed on women by the health care system. There is some
research showing women with less than adequate literacy skills face challenges
in accessing care and benefiting from health services, esp reproductive health
services. Elderly women with limited literacy also face complex health issues
(i.e pelvic floor disorders) that require communication skills/health lit.
skills:

Gazmararian, J.A., Baker, D.W., Williams, M.V. (1999). Health care literacy
among Medicare enrollees in a managed care organization. JAMA 282(6), 527

Klingbeil, C., Speece, M.W., & Schubiner, H. (1995).  Readability of pediatric
patient education materials: Current perspectives on an old problem. Clinical
Pediatrics 34(2), 96-98

There is also some interesting analysis about the prenatal care system and the
number of tests women can have, consent forms that women have to sign and
information required of pediatricians to give new mothers that isn't
communicated well when considering the realities of literacy.

Good luck with your talk,
Amy L. Petersen
University of Michigan, School of Public Health
Interdepartmental Concentration, Women and Reproductive Health

Quoting "S. Cuban" <cubans@seattleu.edu>:

> Suzanne much of what you say rings true to what I have heard, read, and
> experienced. I think some of this goes back to the Nation at risk report
> which connected parenting with school accountability, and effectively tapped
> into the traditional roles of women as teachers to their children in the
> home (and there's been some good historical documentation of this). I agree
> that it seems like it may be at the expense of women's other roles, their
> available resources, and current demands. Connecting women's labor with
> their literacy practices is important and should be visible. I'll let you
> know when we write it up! Any one else have ideas on this topic? Thanks
> again, Sondra
>
>
>
> On 12/7/04 1:53 PM, "Suzanne Smythe" <smythemu@interchange.ubc.ca> wrote:
>
> > I am not sure if this is the same everywhere, but something I am
> > experiencing as a mother and researching in a doctoral thesis in Canada is
> > the increasing pressures on mothers to be 'their child's first educator'.
> > School reforms are placing increasing burdens of accountability and
> > responsibility on parents to be 'involved' as teachers in the home and as
> > fundraisers and volunteers for the school.
> >
> > But there are silences surrounding the fact that it is women who do the
> vast
> > majority of this work. These expectations create lots of stress when
> > children have difficulties at school, and even when they don't, as mothers
> > are often held accountable for their children's successes and failures.
> >
> > Much of the parental involvement policies are based on an 'ideal' home
> where
> > women's labour is  available to the school. In a context where parental
> > involvement is now considered essential to children's schooling success,
> > this creates an uneven playing field as different families have different
> > access to resources (including time).  And through all this, there seems to
> > be more opportunities for women to learn how to support their children's
> > literacy than to pursue literacy needs and interests of their own.
> >
> > Sounds like a great talk-will you be writing it up?
> >
> > Many thanks
> >
> > Suzanne
> >
> > Suzanne Smythe
> > The Weaving Literacy Training Project/
> > Projet Tisser des Liens
> > 288 East 46th Avenue
> > Vancouver, BC
> > V5W 1Z6
> > smythemu@interchange.ubc.ca
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: nifl-womenlit@nifl.gov [mailto:nifl-womenlit@nifl.gov] On Behalf Of
> S.
> > Cuban
> > Sent: Tuesday, December 07, 2004 1:36 PM
> > To: Multiple recipients of list
> > Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:3082] Trends and issues
> >
> > I am going to be giving a talk with Nelly Stromquist on women and literacy
> > issues in CA this January and I was wondering if members of the
> > women-literacy listserv could tell me what they believe to be are the major
> > social, economic, and political trends and issues affecting women's
> literacy
> > education today and in the future? I will attribute your responses in the
> > talk! THANKS so much! Sondra Cuban
> >
>
>
>
>



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